Narrative Essay On Immigration To College

Having immigrated to the United States from Vietnam many years ago, from a poor family in a small town that couldn’t afford post-secondary education and didn’t need nor want it, James was the first of his family to go to college. He had no guiding hand other than that of his small number of American friends. Not knowing many colleges and being unable to research universities, he opted to go to the nearby community college, San Jose City. He was interested in construction, and decided to major in it. Soon after, he received his degree and transferred to San Jose State to pursue a 4-year degree. However, one semester into the program, he realized it was too difficult and dropped out. He is now 50 years old and in possession of an associate degree. James talked about how his experience at college taught him many things he still uses today. He relaxedly says, “I got a lot of new responsibilities when I went to college. I had to take care of my books and do all my work in time. I didn’t really have to do that before; it was really new. I went to high school for a few years after I came to America, but college was a lot harder and I almost

He had spent his entire childhood and some of his adult life in Vietnam. English was something he had to work hard to learn. He explains calmly, “I knew I had to learn English, or I wouldn 't make it through college, but I didn’t know where to start. I just tried reading and translating the newspaper and books and listening to shows on television a lot. It was a little slow, but eventually I learned enough to be able to get through college.” James says it was extremely difficult to learn an entirely new language and culture as late in life as he was. He had to put a large amount of effort into it, but now he is able to use English in his everyday life, and when he is presented with something new, he knows exactly how to work hard to get through