Personal Narrative: Moving To Colombia

My family and I in 2008 moved from Trinidad and Tobago to America. We were all so excited to move to a new country. We heard about all the fun experiences and great opportunities that America had to offer. I must admit that I had mixed emotions about moving to a new country. On one hand, I was exactly happy because I was going to have an opportunity to go college and presume my dream of being a childhood teacher or child psychologist. On the other hand, I was sad because I was leaving all my Tobago friends and family

When I entered the middle school in america, it was really tough for me to adapt to being an

This question drove me back to high school. I attended a military school back from my home country, Ecuador, we only where surrounded by males. It was not difficult for me to cope, because I was in my comfort zone. However, I moved to New York City 10 years ago and I am still in the process of adaptation. I am still seeking to develop coping skills to adapt to my new environments, work, school, friends. Similar, I wanted to fit in and I seek for people that look, think and come from my same backgrounds. But, I did not give myself the opportunity to look for other friends. I even isolated myself. Once I started to give the chance to other people I got in trouble, because they want to use you, people want to take advantage of you one way or another,

A time i felt overwhelmed was during a childhood phase, in the final phase of a transition from Brazil to United States. I originated from Brazil but i had immigrated to U.S near third or fourth grade, however that wasn't the real challenge. The real challenge was to adapt into a different home and culture, however i experienced many problems and setbacks during those phases. I had troubled focusing during school from those doubts and had yet to encounter any long term goal.My parents had to work long shifts, in the day, and my brother had already passed middle, and elementary school, which left a crushed self esteem and no support from family. All those problem and set backs, had dramatically launched me off track and left me crushed on the

I don’t remember much, I just remember not wanting to leave. The place I would be spending the rest of my life I had only visited a few times. I, only being two at the time, was absolutely terrified of moving. Moving. It seemed like the worst possible thing that could’ve happened then. At first, when we left, it felt the same as the last time I had gone there. Then the realization that I would be gone forever kicked in, and the fact that this time, my dad wasn’t coming with us. Just my mom and I.

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.

So, there we were, in Columbia, without visas, and without having gone through customs. The airport manager disclosed there was a hotel in town that was safe and we would be fine if we went there. That region of Columbia had virtually no infrastructure, no busses, no public transportation. The only taxis available were gypsy cabs and could not be trusted. Miguel and I faced the dilemma of figuring out how we could move about, without attracting attention, in a country we weren’t even supposed to be in. Fortunately, a local man transported the three employees and the girlfriend back and forth between the town and the airport at the start and conclusion of each day, moreover, we were able to arrange for him to convey us as well.

It’s been a little over a month since I got to America from Mexico. I live in New York City now. It’s nothing as I expected it to be people in the city are very rude, one day I was walking to work which is a clothing factory a teenage boy, who looked very wealthy told me, “go back where you come from” and “you don’t belong here.” That’s when I met the nicest woman I have ever met, her name’s Jane. She saw everything that happened, she knew I was scared of the boy and that’s when she gave me this flyer. She told me to come to her organization meeting at this church where she would help me adjust to New York. Surprisingly, the meeting was during a time I didn’t work and I heard a couple of the girls that I work with chatting about it. So, I

Someone once told me “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” I guess it wasn’t important to me at the time and therefore I chose to ignore it, little I knew the wisdom these words carried.

“Something that I never had in life, something that you have but are taking for granted, I won't stand for it.” Game controller in hand, I gulped hard, with sweat rolling down my head. My eyes pointed directly downward, not daring to look up as my mother gave “the talk.” My mother’s words echo in my head. Having lost her father during high school, she was denied her right to higher education. She married at a young age, moved to America, and gave birth to me. The first born, the carrier of the American Dream. We were what one would expect from an immigrant Indian family; working hard, valuing education, and hoping for a better tomorrow. As my parents worked hard to sustain our family, I strived to excel in school, motivated by their hardship.

I couldn’t believe the day had come, I was moving to America! For me, this was going to be a whole new experience and a life-changing event. Truth be told, I did not know what to expect, and on what is going to happen next.

Through many life obstacles I was not very fortunate or goal driven to attempt to go to college after high school. Grew up in a military family so my family was stricter about keeping their children

Moving to America, was a difficult transition for me. I had come to the realization that I wasn’t going to see my friends any time soon back in Iran and that was hard to overcome at a young age. I was alone as a child because my siblings are a lot older than me, and my parents’ had the challenge of starting over because they had left everything behind in Iran. However, that wasn’t going to get in the way of me succeeding in school. I have always been a fast learner, by the age of eight I had already learned four languages. Also, I was voted most improved by my classmate every year I was in Elementary School. This might not seem like a big achievement, but as a young student in a new country it was a huge motivation boost for me to improve every

I looked at myself at the mirror, drops of water coming out of my eyes like as if it was a rainy day in May. Hearing the news got me so upset and depressed. I sat outside and looked around the place that I have grown up and that meant a lot to me. When I heard that our family was moving to America I was not happy about that.I was angry with my family because I did not want to leave Ethiopia. I did not want to leave my friends and family in Ethiopia. It scared me that I had to leave my old life and start a new one. A month later, it was time to go the airport and get ready to go to the new country. I was nervous; my heartbeat got louder and louder as walked closer to the airport. As I bit my lip, my eyes were dancing to every corner, my legs were shaking, and my hands were sweating. I was sad that I was leaving the place that I called home and that I had to leave all my childhood memories. At the same time, I was excited because I always wondered what it felt like to move to a different country and adapt to a new world, culture, and language. At the airport, I was happy finally come face to face with the big white things that use to fly over my house. I was stunned to see how big they really were. All of the sudden my sadness turned into excitement and I could not wait to start a

The plane took off and were in the air leaving the place I had only ever known. I remember when my parents told me and my two brothers that we would be moving to the United states. At the time I didn’t know where we would end up or how we were even getting there. All I knew was I would be in a totally different landscape with a lot of ethnically different people whom I have never met or seen before.