A Life Changing Experience

Even though it hasn’t been a long time since our family has moved to America, it feels like a lifetime ago. I can barely remember the days of walking around barefoot and only having a small piece of bread to eat, while here everyone has shoes to wear and eats pasta multiple times a week. How my life has changed in such a short time. Everyone and everything moves at such fast pace here, if one blinks they can miss a lifetime. Back in Sicily, the days drug on while everyone went through the motions of their days on the farm. There are many differences between Sicily and here in America, but the first time I laid my eyes on the Statue of Liberty, I knew I was meant to be an American.

Transitions are never an easy thing to conquer. It is often hard and stressful to cope with changes to one’s surrounding, but in the cases in which one manages to conquer this obstacle, elevation of knowledge and experience are great results gained from this achievement. I originally came from Africa and recently moved to the United States to join my mother and my step father. This great change in the things I had become accustomed to in my daily life was not easy, furthermore taking into account the fact that I had never experienced a transition so little as shifting from one residence to another.

I had no knowledge of the English language or American culture. I never knew any other culture past my hometown’s. A fish out of water, I struggled as a first grader to learn the language, assimilate into the different culture filled with people with different physical features. I felt

Everyone has a different story and background, but we all hold similar aspirations for the future. We can either let our background draw us into an inescapable black hole or use it to thrive over any obstacle. For many minority students as myself, the shot at college is the only chance we truly get to overcome our situations. It’s true that not everyone needs a college education to succeed, but the truth is not everyone has the resources to make something of themselves without the valuable education which a renowned institution like the University of Illinois has to offer. I come from a low-income family which had their share of struggles from an early age, which impacted our lives greatly. My decision on what major I possibly might be interested in pursuing might not have been directly linked with my family history, but the overall aspiration of attending college has. At the age of eight I faced the sad reality that I would be left without a father figure. My dad would be incarcerated for the next seven years for dealing drugs and at the end of his sentence he would be deported back to Mexico. This incident left a heartbroken family and a mother to fend for four kids all by herself. This overall incident was a wake-up call to better myself and not let myself be defined by the mistakes, which my father committed. I saw the struggles, which my mother had to endure.My mother is one of the most

Throughout history, we have seen a plethora of people leaving their original lives behind for the new opportunities in America, but are let down by the harshness of our culture. In the story, Arrival: 1960 by Pablo Medina, we learn about a young Cuban family who make a great move to the United States, more specifically New York City. The main character begins the story high spirited and excited for their new home for it would contain new experiences. In contrast he begins to see the reality within the city and at his school further into the story. He discovers that his new environment is not at all what he expected and on top of that he is faced with a culture that is abstract to his previous beliefs of identification. His high

My mother gave me this book to write in before I left my entire family behind in Chiapas, Mexico. She told me not to be afraid and to write whenever I am feeling upset, anxious, or angry. I haven’t wanted to write this stuff down, but I do not want to say it out loud either. I moved to America last year to stay with my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Brooklyn, New York; I was twelve then and perhaps very naive about what my life would be like in America. I didn’t know any English, but my parents told me that coming to America would help me become smarter. Better even. Unfortunately, America is not what I thought it would be and in recent times, the President is even threatening to make us leave. In Mexico, I felt that I had such an amazing life, where I was able to run around and be free. But here, I am stuck between four walls in a small one bed-room apartment. In the land of opportunity, I feel that I have none.

Whenever I am asked to describe where I grew up, I always find this difficult for me to answer. Simply because, I have lived in five different locations, spanning three different continents, all before the age of seventeen. As a result of growing up in a military-oriented lifestyle, the concept of constantly moving around was nothing new to me. Rather than view it as a shortcoming, I grew fond of the idea of moving to somewhere new—to a location where I have yet to explore and integrate myself into. Thus, due to my exposure to a multitude of cultures and individuals from all walks of life, this has affected how I move through the world’s space. In this paper, I will be discussing how the following concepts of my subject position: my ethnicity, culture, and identity as child of a retired U.S. Airman reflect Gloria Anzaldúa’s discussion of la mestiza.

When we were traveling to America we faced many difficulties, but once we made it to our Aunt's house in Virginia we knew it was going to be a great, yet grueling experience. When I first started going to school it seemed as if I was on another planet. Everyone looked different, spoke a strange language, and had a distinct mindset then me; the life of a kid should seem easy because there isn’t anything to worry about, yet worrying about everything was my coping mechanism. When I entered middle school depression and anger hit me like a freight train, so much to the point where I almost committed suicide. Fighting my so called friends for “fun” and not caring about my future was my life for those

By all who immigrate to America, a number of promises are expected. Coming to the New World may be a long and frightening journey, especially for those who do not speak English or share American customs. Despite its chilling mask, however, America redeems itself by providing its citizens with a new life, freedom, peace, hope, guidance, welcoming, and unity, making the tedious route to American citizenship worthwhile.

“Everything is just starting for you. Your life hasn’t even begun yet.” – Adisa Trebinčević (221) When citizens in war-torn homelands aspire for better lives, they commonly have to look outward and travel across the world to follow their dream. For Kenan Trebinčević and Amal Abulheja, their dream wasn’t necessarily to depart their country, but with recurring violence and trauma, once opportunities arose, both fled to the United States. Respectively, you can say their lives hadn’t started until they arrived in America. Coming to the United States remarkably changed their lives forever. For the purpose of this essay, I will be sharing the similarities and differences of the initial experience of Kenan and Amal becoming “American.”

It was cold November afternoon when I dragged myself out of the plane and took my first step on the American soil. Moving to America was my greatest adventure and my biggest fear. Having never traveled to a foreign country before I was intrigued about the culture, religion and style of living, It was an exciting experience for me, yet at the same time, I was terrified. I was curious to learn about the culture and the country itself which I heard in abundance on television. What will it be like? Will I be able to fit in the American lifestyle? Will I be able to make friends? The questions were unanswered until I had to experience it on my own.

It was one life-changing experience I was seven years old when I became grateful for the things that I had. I remember packing for this big trip my parents were planning for a year now. I precisely recall my mother telling me to go through my closet and pick clothes I did not use to give away, I didn't know why, but I didn't ask, I just did it. As the day got closer I remember my parents had accumulated a great amount of things to give away. I quite didn't understand why they were gathering so many things and for what reason.

The arrival of immigrants into developed nations has been a common trend for centuries, but so has the wave of resentment from natives of the land towards those who are migrants. Adichie illustries this migrant struggle through Americanah, which explores the hardships migrants must face with trying to be accepted into the new society. With her portrayal of the immigrant tendency to assimilate, Adichie skillfully highlights the pain associated with losing essential parts of one’s true identity.

In life we all have something that has changed the way we perceive things. Most things that change a person’s perception happens to be an experience that they have gone thru and learned from. In my case it wasn’t necessarily an experience, it was a dog that changed my perception on life. My mind and heart was opened in a whole new way. I never thought I could love an animal just as much as I loved the people in my life. I always thought it was strange that pet owners loved and treated their pets the same way they treated their children. My perception on dogs or pets in general definitely changed. Throughout this paper you will see why I am a totally different person because of a dog that entered my life.

Everyone has that one experience that makes them look at life with a new set of eyes. My life changing experience happened a little earlier than most. It was the summer before first grade. We had gotten an exceptional amount of rain in the past months even though it was summer. I did not notice, though, because summer was every six year old's favorite holiday, next to Christmas and their birthday. My summer was supposed to be like any other but it quickly took a turn. For the best or for the worst? That is debatable.