Single Parent

My full name is Christina Kaysone Chantharavongsa and I was born March 23, 1995 in Bridgeport Hospital located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was a little city and a small world since a ton of people would know each other. My parents were in an arranged marriage and were both moved to the United States from Laos during their high school years. But I’m actually half Laotian and Thai since my mom’s side is Thai from Thailand although she was born in an Asian Southeastern country called Laos. I’m the second oldest out of four children with two sisters and one brother. The order goes from Sarah, Christina (me),

My story would have never begun if my parents had not made a huge decision in my life, almost 15 years ago. When they decided to move our family across the border, my future would be become unknown. The fate I had been destined to have was completely altered, now, I had the opportunity to change my life for the better, to strive for something bigger. My parents pushed me to be the best I could be, and to work as hard as possible to get what I wanted. As the daughter of two Mexican immigrants I grew up in a very cultural household, and being surrounded by Spanish at all times. The only negative being I had to learn English on my own, and which led to me having some difficulty when I first started school. Yet, growing up in a Spanish speaking

My name is Justin Schultz I was born in Elmhurst which is a suburb of Chicago. Most of my child hood was spent playing with my friends and my brother. My brother was three years older than me and his name is Joey. My Dads side of the family all lived near us and my mom’s side of the family lived in Dubuque. We would visit my dad’s parents often and my mom’s parents would come up like once a month and because the water in Dubuque was good they would always bring a jug of water.

My birth took place in Mar del Plata, Argentina, into a family of six including myself. Years passed, my mother gave birth to a girl and was pregnant soon after to another. My father, a strong laboring mechanic decided that it was time he moved his three boys and soon to be three girls from the home he literally built with his bare hands alone, to another country with grander opportunities, not for himself, but for his six children. He decided that with the money that cost him years of tireless work and stress he could only afford passage for himself. He set off for the United States and for months he worked day in and day out, any job he could get his hands on. He paid for our flight and had a modest, dainty apartment awaiting our arrival.

I was born May, 30th 1989 at Wadley Medical in Texarkana, Ar. I was born to Kym Crispino from Queens, NY and William Lee of Hot Springs, Ar. My parents were young when they had me. We were very poor at times, but they always made sure I had what I needed. I was an only child, but grew up around plenty of cousins. I have lived in Texarkana my entire life. My parents split up when I was twelve, and my mother and I moved out into the country on a dead-end street with no children in the area, I became very sheltered and a little socially awkward.

So I would like to present myself officially. My full name is Andrea Paniagua, I was born on May 4, 1996, which makes me 20 years old right now. I am from Hendersonville, North Carolina, but was born in Naples, Florida. I am Mexican American. Both of my parents are from Mexico, my mom was born in the state Guanajuato but raised in Mexico City and my dad was born and raised in Mexico City. I have a total of 6 sibling which all of them are half siblings. I grew up all my life with only two siblings, which I call them my full blood siblings. I have two loving parents, my dad and mom. I have a strong bond with both of them but I have a stronger bond with my mom, she is more like my to go person, my best friend. I have a boyfriend who I have been dating for three years. I have one dog and then my family has another. In other words I have two dogs but one is mine and the other is the family dog. My dog is a Shih-Tzu and the family dog is a German Shepard.

I was born on February 14, 1993 in the city of La Vega, Dominican Republic. I came to New York at the age of 10. The fact that my first language is Spanish placed me at a disadvantage from the minute I stepped a foot in the United States since even at the airport I was not able to communicate with the agent. My biggest struggle was school since the class was taught in English only and most of my classmates only spoke English. Despite my efforts to give it my all to learn the language and adapt to the customs of this unfamiliar place, it seemed to be a challenge I would never overcome. Since my parents and close family members mostly spoke Spanish as well, they could not help me, they only encouraged me to study and read a lot so that I would learn the language faster. I wanted to fit in with kids of my age and to understand when

I was born in Merida, Mexico. That special day my father was in prison, he would leave our family by my fourth birthday. It would take me eight years to reunite with him in America. With two sisters and a single mother, I became the man of the house at a young age. Neither of my parents finished a high school education. I held my first job at age seven cleaning windshields at stoplights for any available change, in an effort to alleviate my mother’s burdens. My life experiences have taught me resiliency, hard work, and determination.

My name is Destiny Sanchez, I was born in on January 8, 2002. I have a bother named Jorge he's eight years old and a sister named Isabella, she's six years old. The language we speak at home is English and Spanish, in my family In my family I communicate better with one of my grandparents better then my parents. I communicate with my grandma because we understand each other very well and we can talk about just about

17 year old kid, born in Bronx, NY raised in Santiago, DR and living in Lawrence, MA. Raised with both parents and two brothers, one older one younger. I was born in The Bronx a borough in New York, in a small hood called Allerton. I lived here for a couple months after my birth to then move to Dominican Republic. Both my parents were born in Dominican Republic, when i was moved to the Dominican Republic I lived in a city called Santiago in a neighborhood called Pekin which is also where my dad was born. Pekin was where i spent most of my childhood, raised with a lot of cousins like brothers, around this time my younger brother wasn’t born yet and my older brother was in the United States with my grandma due to him already being enrolled in a school here. I also spent a lot of time in a neighborhood called Los Ciruelitos which

My birth name is Azucena Margarita Montano Macias. Although, I like my name, I prefer to go by Azucena. I was born on September 25, 1990 in Jalisco, Mexico. My parents immigrated to the United States in 1993 and brought me and my siblings along. We have resided in California since our arrival to the U.S. I am the youngest of three. My brother, Jose, is the oldest; he is thirty-four years old. My sister, Sara, is the middle child; she is turning thirty-two this year. My sister has three children, two boys and one girl; all of which are under the age of thirteen.

My name is Zulema Ibeth Montes de Oca, I am nineteen years old, I was born March 1,1997 in Berkeley, CA. I was Born into a very traditional Mexican Catholic Christian family; I was raised as part of the Mexican ethnic majority. My parents are both from Mexico, my mom is from Nuevo Ideal, Durango more of a cowboy western type of place and my dad is from Armeria, Colima more of the coast side, best known for the beaches and weather. I have not yet found out what their descent is like. I do know my parents came out to the United States to make their wish come true, “El sueño Americano”. My parents both came here not knowing the language, not knowing nothing just for a better life. That saying “El sueño Americano”, has always been a big impact

My name is Yazmin Velazco; I was born in Camaguey, Cuba. I immigrated to the USA in 1983. I lived in Atlanta Georgia for over 21 years; I now live in Miami Florida for the past 4 years. I am engaged to a wonderful man, I have three wonderful kids all boys. my oldest, my best friend Tomas is 19 years old, my middle one is 8 years old Orestes Bka Bebo, and my baby Santi his 11 months old, I must say he, and my best friend Elizabeth whom is an occupational therapist herself. They both inspired me to get into school at age 42. "The most important factor in my success, however, is my family, my own determination, my organizational skills, my communication skills, and my love and concern for others. After

Everybody has a story ,but every single one of us has something special in our life. I was born in a small town called Villalba near the south of Puerto Rico. As for the school, I graduated with high honors, especially in math. Ruben is my younger and only brother, he is fifteen years old. Three years ago, my family decided to move to the United States looking for the "American Dream". We left everything. our friends, families, we just left our whole life. When we arrived here I did not know the language, but after a couple of months I learned to defend myself and to help my parents who still do not know the language very well. My dream has always been to become a movie actor. Whenever I watched a movie with my family I would me more inspired.

During the years, single parent families have become a more common thing. This is starting to become a problem, because family dynamics can really influence a child’s life. According to studies it affects not only the child but the parents too.