Personal Narrative: Coming To America With My Parents

Its 1914 and I just got the news that we were finally going to America! We have been waiting for several years trying to save up money and figure everything out. Going to America is almost every ones dream here in Europe. Just like Oscar Hammerston said, “ You gotta have a dream. If you don't have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true.” Most wanted to go to America to escape poverty, famine, or to get religious freedom. We will be leaving tomorrow. I will go to America with my mom and sister, my dad is already over there. We will have to walk about 60 miles to get to the boat and then the boat ride over to America will be a long and grueling journey. My mom hollered at me to start packing. She told me I could only bring two

Not in a million years would I have thought I would ever move from my neighborhood in India to another house, let alone another country. If you would have come up to me and said I was moving, I probably would've just laughed at you, blinded by my obliviousness. But sure enough, one day, and I did not see this coming, my mother told me we were moving to the USA. Just out of the blue, no warning, just bam! Luckily for me, I was near a sofa when I heard this news, so I fell down on the sofa, not the ground. Shock would be an understatement for how I was feeling at that moment. I looked around, at all the pictures, all the furniture including the sofa I was sitting on (which I was quite fond of), all my toys, everything I could lay my eyes on. I thought I was going to die of shock, if not sadness. I was going to leave my entire life, all my friends, all my relatives, everything I treasured behind for an uncertain future in America?

The most critical event of my life was November 11, 2013 the first time I boarded an airplane to the United States of America. It was the scariest but happiest time of my life experiencing it with my father and sister. I was afraid of heights, so there were times when I told my father I was too afraid to board a flight. I never actually imagined myself boarding a plane owing to the rigorous processes in acquiring a United States visa. I was extremely happy to celebrate with my dad and sister. However, it was a humbling experience to know how different the world is, and at the same time, how similar our lives are. Traveling can be critical but, what makes it interesting is the adventure, food and companionship, and new things.

About 20 years ago my parents came to the United States from Mexico in order to give their children a better life. As I near the end of my high school career I realize now that what they wanted for my siblings and I was a fresh start from poverty and the opportunity to a higher education.

obstacle that I have ever faced, especially with the fact that there was a time where I didn’t

I am an immigrant. The word that Donald Trump hates. The set of people that receives many blames for crimes or mischief. But after all, thats me. I am like any other person who gets blamed, I am an immigrant.

As a teenager moving to a new country with a different culture, different language, and being thousands of miles away from everyone I grew up with was not an easy change, however, that was precisely what I did in January of 2013 when I came to the United States with my father. My whole world changed since, and shaped my way of thinking. From learning English, adjusting to a new culture, experiencing my first snow and finding my way in my new country, my life has been an exciting adventure.

When I was about the age of 8, I was living in Nepal, My family was a middle class family, which would be considered poor in America because 1 buck here is 100 buck there. Even though we weren’t the richest we weren’t the poorest either, life was pretty good as far as I knew. Until my parents told me that we were moving to America and that it was the best thing for us to do. My head started rushing with many questions. How about my friends? What kind of people are going to be there? Where will we live? I didn’t know whether to feel excited or sad, my emotions were very mixed.

Growing up in an immigrant household in America, was difficult. I didn’t live, I learned to adapt. I learned to adapt to the fact that I did not look like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that my hair texture would never be like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that I was not as financially well off as my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that unlike other people who have families of four, I had a family of seven and numerous amounts of close relatives. That my parents, although lived in America for quite sometimes grew up in Nigeria, so English was not their first language so I adapted and changed myself in order to fit into societal standards. I learned to understand and interpret my parents’ native Igbo dialect but left that part of myself at home so that people will view me as the perfect American citizen.

My parents moved from Colombia to the United States before I was born. I am apart of the first generation in my family that was born here. My parents moved with the single hope of giving me a better life with more opportunities. Having this background has definitely impacted my life in both trivial and meaningful ways. For instance, my father not being able to break through the language barrier has been an integral part of my lifestyle. He has been living in this country for a while now, but has never picked up English fluently. This led me to become his translator for as long as I can remember. Even today I accompany him to his workplace to help close deals and talk to contractors. This was but one of many examples of how my Hispanic background

The first eight years of my life, I spent in India where I was born. Growing up I was constantly reminded by my parents that I needed to make them proud by getting a good job and living a good lifestyle. They told me this because they did not want to see me live a hard life like they did. When I was nine years old, I moved from India to the United States of America. The reason why I moved to America was not because I was living a bad life in India, it was so that I could have a better education and more opportunities in life. When I came to America, I had to go through much struggle. First and the most important was that I did not know how to speak English. Apart from this I was very shy, so I didn’t communicate with people frequently.

More than twelve million immigrants will make their first stop in America at Ellis Island Immigration station in the years ahead between 1892 and 1954, at least that's what we read. Who knew a small island in the New York Harbor would become my life saver ?

My mind takes me back to a time when I woke up to the aroma of food from street vendors through the homes that sit in a tightly compacted neighborhood. I remember growing up as a young boy in an area referred to as “La Laguna” in Mexico. This city was dry in rainfall levels and hope, my family were in the pursuit of an improved standard of living when they decided they wanted to move to the United States.

My mom said “you have a choice” and I said “yea?” she said you should go to school. To become something better. Have a good job. Girls in other part of the world aren’t allowed to go to school. If you lived in the Middle East, you would’ve been living with your 56 year old husband, at home with your two kids. Cleaning and taking care of them for the rest of your life. So go to school, because not everyone is allowed to. You have the chance to, and you need to take it. It made me think about a lot of things. Not just school, but simple things. Like clothes, food, family. How can we look over such things that many people don’t have? Then I realized that many Americans notice that not everyone is able to come to America or even get the things they need. So they send things, which help that person. Theres people who go into the military fighting so we can keep that our rights and freedom. To fight what we believe in. Home of the

What makes America so great? Many would start with the job opportunities, the freedom, or some would even say the security. I, on the other hand, see America as more than that. What makes America great, in my opinion, is their willingness to help others in need, to welcome those begging for a new start. My family turned to the United States in their time of need, for an escape. It’s true. But it is not the picture perfect scene people envision when you tell them you escaped a war and found your way to a free America. The start of my American journey began in 1998 in Seattle, when I was just three months old. But being as I was so little back then, it would be more appropriate told from my mother’s perspective.