Personal Narrative: My Haitian-American Family

Even though she didn’t go to college, she inspires me to live the life she didn’t have the chance to live. My mother is the greatest impact in my life. Yes, you can say I’m a “momma’s girl”, I love my mother with all my heart. She is beautiful, loving, smart, and I would do anything to keep her happy and by my

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

Maria Morales- my mother did not come to El Salvador until eleven months later. Not having my mother by my side, I was forced to develop a self reliant mentality. For the past three months, I told myself she would be with me soon, yet a phone call once a week is the only thing we would receive from her. At age eleven, I was learning how to trust myself rather than, my own mother and every day, I still manage to keep a smile on my face until the night of her birthday.

It had its good days and bad days though, not speaking to my mother or father for an entire year was heartbreaking. The good days were easy to get through but when it rained it poured, some days I felt there was nowhere to turn. It kept me motivated though, I knew I needed to develop thick skin because mommy and daddy would not be there to save me. I became very cautious and aware of my surroundings, everyone was guilty until proven innocent in my eyes. I had to travel the safe route.

I’m able to resonate with a plethora of things, yet the thing I consider my identity is I’m an adopted, Haitian immigrant.

There was not much to do as I grew up in Haiti. I would sit outside for hours until the sun would set, the darkness consuming the little light that once remained.  I didn’t know anything besides my house; my mom believed that our safety simply lay inside the house and anything outside was dangerous. Growing up, I didn’t have my father around because he came to the United States in order to provide for his family back home. At the age of seven both my immigration papers and my sister's were finalized, and we were able to finally be with our father. Unfortunately, our mother was not able to come with us. When we got to the airport, I hugged my mother and said goodbye.

Ever since I was young, I knew that my mother did not have it easy when she came to America. She was a strong single mother, who could not speak English, living in a foreign land. Knowing that my mother had sacrificed everything she had in hope of establishing a better future and life for me, I had to repay her. My mother used to be a nail technician inevitably she had to endure ignorant remarks from customers simply because she could not speak English.

I am a first-generation Hispanic-American. Being born and spending my childhood in south Florida made my Hispanic culture so accessible that I would think in Spanish instead of English. In my home, Spanish was the first language spoken since my father and mother are from Panama and Peru respectively, and most of my family did not speak English. I was so immersed in my family’s culture that I even learned the “Peruvian dance”-Marinera. I loved walking into my home and smelling the fresh Peruvian dish my mom was cooking. That was all about to change. In 2009, Florida was struggling with unemployment and real estate issues. We moved to a small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania called Cranberry Township. We moved because my father’s job transferred

Shortly after moving back to Peachtree City, my mom had my little brother, Luke, and not long after, four months to be exact, we were in a car accident. A young lady ran a red light and t boned us in at an intersection. My father hit his head and got a severe concussion causing him to forget a lot of things. My mom had already had a bad back and the accident made it worse. That being said, I really had to step it up, and help my siblings and parents take care of Luke.

As a member of a mainly Cuban family, some of the traditions that my family shared in Cuba where brought to the United States with them. Though I myself was not born in Cuba, there are many traditions that my family has passed on to me, for example the most common would be a quiencienera. This tradition honors the transition of a young lady to a grown women. Another example would be the fact that in Cuba the majority of the population is catholic, thus my family decided to remain practicing the religion even though they reached a country, more so a state with so much cultural diversity, and a variety of different opinion, yet still they remained believing in there old costumes and beliefs. Though things have changed, because of the influence

It seems to me like it’s getting better. There isn’t any more problems anymore and we are settling in okay close to family. So I’m also grateful this challenge brought my family together and filtered out me and my mother’s life by getting rid of the bad stuff like my step Father. And just simply moving on. I’m almost positive my hardest challenge is over and I truly believe it was my hardest challenge in my life.

Doning the title as a hispanic goes far beyond how one looks and speaks, but rather how one conducts himself through every step of their life. I greatly contribute my hispanic roots in shaping me into the young man I am today. The morals and traditions instilled in me such as my unparalleled work ethic and family values leach from my upcoming in a strong hispanic lifestyle.

I am applying for a place to study social work because I have always wanted to be able to make a difference to people's lives. With social work I believe I can do this in a caring and supportive way. Many of my life experiences have led me to who I am today. The first thing I remember that caught my attention was how my cousin would always stay with my family. He would be spent weeks with at my house without contract with his parents.

Leadership is an action defined as leading a group or organization . There are many great leaders today and many great leaders who legacy will always live on. Such as , Martin Luther King Jr. , Caesar Chavez, Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, Ghandi, General Colin Powell, Angela Merkel and many more . Each of these leaders had their own style and accomplishments to make them the leaders they are today . Martin Luther King jr., a civil rights activist , a pastor and most importantly a leader.

I wouldn't be the person I am today without the experiences and where I come from. It all started from where I was born. I was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti on January 22nd 1995. Haiti is located in the Caribbean, and there we speak two languages fluently, Creole and French. All my family from both my mother’s and my father's side we all come from Haiti. I don’t remember much from the time I was there, because I was very young. I left Haiti when I was about five years old, I went to France with my cousins and aunt and stayed there until I was about eight or nine years old. From there I went to the United States to be with my mother in New York. The majority of my life I spent it in New York with my mother. It wasn’t until August 2014 I moved