Personal Narrative: My First Coming To America

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.

The American Identity is more than just being a citizen in America. What makes the American Identity is the diversity that exists in America. America is a melting pot, which consists of many ethnic groups, religions, and ideas. It isn’t the appearance that makes you American, it is your mind and the way one acts make one American. I am a kid who is part Korean, French, and Chinese. My mom is Korean and Chinese, and my dad is French and Chinese. I do celebrate Lunar New Year with some of my relatives on my mother’s side, but my dad doesn’t celebrate any French holidays. To be qualified as an American, one must be unique in their own way, and love freedom.

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.

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.

Coming to America with my parents when I was about 11 years old was a new adventure for me. There were a lot of changes that needed to be made and experiencing new things. I would have to make some adjustment and getting used to the American culture and learning the language they speak. My parents had made a big sacrifice coming to America. Living their home country just so my siblings and I could get a better education and better life. As we all know, life in America is not that easy when you are newbies. As an 11 years old kid, I wouldn't know what to do or how to help my parents when they are going through a tough time. All I do was go to school, come home, and do some reading. Besides, school wasn't that easy for me because I didn't know English and I couldn't communicate with the people around me nor the teachers. I was the only kid who looks different in my class and has no ideas what the teacher is talking about. It was uncomfortable for me to be around my classmates, but everyone in the class seems to be nice to me because I was the new kid. They didn’t have problems with me and I didn’t have problems with them. As time goes on, I began to feel

I can remember it like it was yesterday. My parents left me when I was fifteen years old to go to America. I thought to myself for one year, they left me here to starve, live, and die alone in eastern Europe. When I was sixteen years old I got ready to move to America and start a new life. I thought to myself I wonder if my parents are dead or alive. They really didn't mean anything to me anymore anyways.

In this letter tells of how I crossed the border between Mexico and the United States. I left my house in Guatemala at 4:30 in the morning bound for Mexico on 28 January 2002. Arrived to a central bus station in Mexico about 7:00 in the morning, where there was a man who would help me cross the border. I remember very well we took a bus as about 7:30 in the morning, while in the bus the man gave me a passport with a tourist visa for me to use to cross the border. The passport was from Guatemala, if I remember right, I do not remember under whose name was made the passport. The man advise me that if we were stop during the trip in Mexico, to say that I was going as a tourist to Los Angeles, California in the United States. The trip was very long at a time I fell asleep on the bus when the man woke me we were in another central bus station in Mexico that I do not know the name. In reaching this station we got off the bus, to use the restroom, and eat at the same center, we were there for about half an hour. After stopping at that station we did stop 5 more times, which were carrying gasoline and we could eat. We arrived to Tijuana on January 31, 2002 at 7 in the morning. Arriving at Tijuana we got out of the bus and the man who was going to cross me and someone else told us that we were going to need on a bench and wait for 20 minutes. After waiting 20 minutes, we started walking to the border line, the man was ahead of me, and the other person behind me.

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 life took an interesting turn when my mother told me I would be moving to a different country, fear took over my body because that meant I would have to start from zero. On January 1st, 2011 my mom gave me the exciting news that her fiancée, now husband, had started the process to bring her to the United States so she could become a permanent resident, live with him, form a family and start a brand new life. I remember her face blighting up to every time she spoke a word but that smile faded once she told me I could not come with at that time because of the expense of the process. I understood why she could not bring me with. We had economic and emotional issues going on. She promised that as soon as she obtained her green card (permanent residency) she would start the legal process for me. I could then visit the United States and become a permanent resident.

Growing up I always knew my mindset was far past my years. The way my mind worked was different and older than those kids around me, so it was no surprise for me to be on my own right from the get go after turning 18. For as long as I can remember I have always done everything by myself especially school related. My parents are Hispanic and speak little English, making me the first person in my family to attend college. My parents brought me to the United States from Mexico at the age of four and I have lived in Oklahoma ever since. This is home. Being brought here as a toddler, now makes my status here in the U.S. a resident of Oklahoma thanks to the differed action known as DACA. This does put a set back on my plans to attend college because