I am the first generation of my family members that has been raised at and attended school in the United States. My siblings were raised and educated in Mexico later transitioning to the U.S. when I was 4. My family from a young age to now has only been made up of my mom, two sisters, nephews, and niece slowly growing as time passes. At a young age I departed from Mexico leaving all my friends, memories, and my father behind. Even though my father did not accompany us to the U.S. I hold no grudges or any type of negative thoughts because having heard both sides to why he stayed and why we left I understood that it was for the better. While he was growing career wise my family needed a change that would’ve been selfish to include him. This …show more content…
I've been living in the same apartments for over 10 years. My family was very accepting when it came to what I needed and how I felt. Whenever I required school supplies, clothes, or even something unimportant as toys they made sure that I always had them. They saw that I was prospering at school both in knowledge and social skills so they rewarded my achievements. I was thought to make school a priority and that they would worry about the rest. I never had any worries as a child but as I got older I understood that they made many sacrifices as a whole family of immigrants so that they could shield me from the hardships. I am very thankful in that I hold no grudges, horrible memories, burdens, or regrets from my childhood. They instilled the idea that within time and with hard work I could accomplish anything. Along with them my neighbor-hood also impacted me by introducing me to people that I now call friends and family who have shaped who I am through their experiences. From my childhood to know I have seen them grow, change, move on, or pass away in the apartments that I’ve lived in. Change is what I've grown to accept due to father time leaving some behind while some got ahead.This change was present through seeing friends lose themselves to, change of schools, drugs, alcohol, a negative mindset, and even
Growing up, I was a first generation American. My family emigrated from Egypt seventeen years ago with a dream of starting a life in America. After coming to a new country and leaving their family behind, they had to find a way to start a new life. However, being an immigrant came with many challenges that my parents had to face head on. A few months after my parents and sister moved to America, I was born. Being that my parents never received a full education they struggled only to earn mundane jobs. My mom stayed home to take
When I arrived to the United States I faced a challenging situation in my life, I didn’t know English. This challenging as I didn’t know how to communicate with any of my teachers or classmates, and I wasn’t able to do any of my work. Not being able to participate in class upsetted me because in Mexico I was use to doing all my classwork and homework. Therefore, I decided that I was going to do everything in my power to learn English quickly. So, when the my ESL teacher announced to my parents that they were going to have to take to school during the summer, I didn’t mind at all. When I was in summer school I learned a lot of English due to my determination and my hard work. Looking back I wouldn’t do things differently because I know that
Hi, I’m Anna Sophia Wager and I am from Germany. I immigrated to the United States in 1908. There was a big drought and my mother and father were very ill. I was helping my parents and my other family. One day, my father pulled me aside after school. I was a teacher at Berlin British School. He talked very softly. “Anna Sophia,” My father said, “Here is a ticket to Americana. Go and find Ben.” Ben was my older brother. My parents gave him a ticket to the United States. I looked at the ticket. It was a ticket that was golden brown. I gave my father a hug and ran to my room. I started packing, I didn’t know what was ahead of me. It was finally my third week on the crowded boat. When I look own the steerage door I see the dirty faces, hard lumpy beds, and chunky slimy soup.
When I came to the United states, it was pretty hard trying to speak and understand english,because when someone was talking to me I did not understood a single word. It Frustrated me.It was also really hard to pronounce a word because some words does not sound the same way their written.I actually did not want it to read or write anything to learn i just want it to go back where I could understand a language.My mom spoke with me about how she felt when she first came to the US I realize that nothing is impossible.
A year and a half ago I moved from Venezuela to the US with my family; since then I have tried my best to make this sacrifice worth it and make my family proud. Leaving everything that you own behind and moving somewhere new with only a couple of luggage with you is extremely difficult economically, which is why my family is currently experiencing financial difficulties that make it more difficult for me to be able to afford the costs of a good college education. I currently work 3 jobs cleaning houses to help my family, however, it is still not enough to afford a college education. Being an immigrant is a part of my identity and it has shaped my character into what I believe is a hard-working student and person. At West Marshall high school
This is a very interesting story. I am glad that she got to experience how the real life for most of us is, and how sometimes we only work to pay rent and bills. I myself can relate to that with my family. We came here in 2006, and my as an immigrant my mom had to work in whatever she could find, just to be able to pay rent and give me food. This is the reason why I go to school, to better myself, and to be able to get a job that I enjoy doing, and that it will give me a good paycheck. Honestly I feel bad for many people because, it is very hard to live in this country while getting paid minimum wage, but this is why we have to sacrifice ourselves and go to school to become someone.
It is a popular belief that children are bound to the same path that their parents have been down. As a result, being the daughter of two Haitian parents, neither of whom have secondary education, and moved to the United States in the hope of a better life this was a belief placed on me. Throughout my high school career, I have faced obstacles both big and small. One barrier I faced was going into my junior year. Going into my junior year I noticed my dad was home a lot more than usual, but I never questioned it. After a couple of weeks, my mother sat me down and told me he lost his job. At first, when she told me this it didn’t seem like a problem to me. I just thought he would put in more applications get hired and things would turn back
They say the winter is a metaphor for solitude; however, my winter was everything but solitary. I longed for Christmas Carols and holiday cheer, instead I got the sound of doors slamming and children fighting. I expected normal; my mom, my dad, and my brother. Instead I received my mom, my dad, my brother, aunt, and three cousins in a sardine packed house.
Throughout last generation, immigration has been vital for my family- my mother is an immigrant, and so are my paternal grandparents. Being Mexican immigrants in a land that does not accept you is hard; I’ve seen the struggles firsthand. Like my grandparents, my mother did not have many opportunities once she entered the United States. She came seeking to start a career and make a name for herself, yet ended up being an assistant manager at Wal-Mart. Nonetheless, she has worked hard alongside my father to provide the best for my brother and I. But I know if she was a white American without a Mexican accent,
My parents immigrated from Mexico in 1981 to give my siblings and I better lives. They didn’t want us to go through the hardships they did when they were our age. However, that didn’t keep us from learning about Mexican roots. My parents taught us Spanish from the very beginning, not only to lose our Mexican roots, but also because they didn’t know any English when coming to this country. My siblings were already in their teen years when I was
No one get’s to choose what environment in which they were raised. I grew up in a very difficult environment that has affected me in various ways. Although it has left some very scaring memories, it has made me who I am today.
Being an immigrant is a mind numbing experience. I didn't know a speck of english and I barely understood my teacher. I had to adjust to the whole new culture. But at age 6 that was easy. I quickly figured out that in here we didn’t have to pray every monday. I didn’t have to put on a uniform everyday. I can easily get free food from the cafeteria when my mother signed me up for the free lunch program. In America I didn’t have to smell the canal and street trash anymore. In just 3 weeks my whole life changed. I got used to it for about 2 years, then I had to go back. Back to the gang-filled, starving, broken house that I was born in.
This letter is to detail when I crossed the border into the United States. In 1999 I arrived to Tijuana, Mexico I do not remember the day or the month exactly. A lady came up wondering that if I was going to cross the United States, and I said yes, then she took me to a men. The man said to me that it could help me to cross into the United States, and I accepted. He took me to Tecate, Mexico where he had 10 more people, when we arrived to tecate, Mexico at 6 in the afternoon, We went up to the first 8 in a truck and we were driving us as 1 1/2 approximately. From there we went walking in the mountains, we walked about 5 hours, until we came to a river or canal of water there they already had a chamber of water used as a lifeguard. They told us that this water was a dirty water or black waters.
As a first-generation Mexican American, I am the product of two cultures merged into one. Like many immigrants, my parents left behind their homeland and came with just the clothes on their back. They were fish out of water when they first arrived in America. They came here with hopes of pursuing the American Dream but soon realized that they weren't going to be the ones to achieve the American Dream. They worked hard so that my younger brother and I could have a shot at it. So they’ve educated us and passed the Dream along to us. The hardships experienced by my parents have inspired me to take on my own challenges. Because of the sacrifices my parents made, I am where I am today. It's an unspoken responsibility that one day I will give back to those who gave me so much.
On one sunny day, I was helping my mom doing chores when she pulled me over to talk to me about something important. I was confused why my mom would want to me about something important, but I listened to what she said and followed her. What she told me was what her life was like back in Vietnam. She did not have much of an education. Instead, she stayed home with her mom to sell Vietnamese yogurt every day for a living. Since I was born in America, I never thought of life was like for others in developing countries like Vietnam. Hearing from my mom's experience, it stuck with me. I learned the importance of being grateful for what I have since they are a lot of people who do not have what we have in America and it made me want to help those who are in need. I was also inspired to do whatever I