Arcangel Looking For A Better Life

The expectation for new opportunity in America was an aspiration held by all those willing to leave their native counties—seeking a land of promise. While the United States certainly provided a chance of these fortunes, these freedoms came at a steep price. The initial process of traveling abroad was grueling. Away from the comforts of home, precious belongings and a culture that felt familiar—adjusting to

In the story “Antojos’” by Julia Alvarez, the main character, a wealthy Dominican woman named Yolanda, travels to the Dominican Republic in order to search for her cultural and personal identity. Her difficulty interacting and relating to her old family members before she immigrated to America reflects the emotional hardship of immigration.

America has produced many opportunities for the immigrants, who built the nation from the ground up. Those Immigrants are what make the American Identity unique with being recognized by the world. The nation went through the trial of fire beginning with the American Revolution, then the Civil War, and now Global Peace. Furthermore, each event has a common trait, which is the people, who came here to achieve their dreams. America has been the bastion of democracy and opportunities for many centuries. The similarities and differences between “I Hear America Singing,” “To Walt Whitman,” and “I, Too, Sing America” are viewpoints on America, motivates, experiences, and viewpoints.

Cristina Henriquez’, The Book of Unknown Americans, folows the story of a family of immigants adjusting to their new life in the United States of America. The Rivera family finds themselves living within a comunity of other immigrants from all over South America also hoping to find a better life in a new country. This book explores the hardships and injustices each character faces while in their home country as well as withina foreign one, the United States. Themes of community, identity, globalization, and migration are prevalent throughout the book, but one that stood out most was belonging. In each chacters viewpoint, Henriquez explores their feelings of the yearning they have to belong in a community so different than the one that they are used to.

My father left home – Umuezukwe for America as a young man with hope of one day coming back to that village to live or share the wealth that he will bring back from America with his community. I am happy to report that his mission to be surrounded by his

I can only imagine what immigrating to america is like for these families, everyday children my age and younger are risking their lives to come to America and It really makes me appreciate how much I have. For Lourdes, Enrique, and Maria Isabel in Enrique’s Journey they must make the hard decision of leaving everything they grew up with in Honduras to come to america for a better life. Lourdes, Enrique’s mother, could no longer afford to feed and send her children to school and was struggling to make money with her job. “Lordes can think of only one place that offers hope… Lourdes has decided: She will leave. She will go to the United States, and make money and send it home.” (p.20) Lourdes decides to make the trip because it

People in Central America especially, long to have their basic necessities met. Visiting Guatemala and Mexico at the age of ten was a hard site to see. Kids walking on the street barefoot not because they wanted to, but they had no money to buy shoes. Making their dirty feet ache at night. Wearing the same clothes full of filth because they could not afford to buy clothes and soap. Parents struggling to provide for their family. They would often sent their child to school without lunch, making it hard for the student to concentrate at school. Any little money counts and they would make it last. Yet they were so welcoming and loving to guest. They had nothing to offer but the little they had they would offer. Family’s full of frustration and no hope turn to the journey of going to “el Norte”. Hoping to have a better life and help their family improve their social status.

In her article, Alsultany’s provided a complex process of being in the US based on her personal experience. Her ancestry originates from Iraq and Cuba, however she was raised in the US giving her the identification of being an American, a Latina and

In Dinaw Mengestu's essay "Home at Last", the author describes his transition from Ethiopia to America and describes how the transition was easier for him, as child of 2 than it was for his parents who were far more familiar and entrenched with Ethiopia than he was.

For the first time, she clearly saw what her life would have been like had her parents didn’t take the risk of leaving their home. Poverty was omnipresent, opportunity was non-existent and educated, hard working professionals were barely scraping by. Even the youth had nothing to look forward to. “Their faces all shared the same expression -- hopelessness. I would only see a small glimmer of hope in their eyes when they spoke of America, and how different their lives would be if they could live there.” says Cameron, “My parents risked everything because of hope. Hope for opportunity. Hope in the American Dream. Hope for their children. The risk they took is unparalleled to any risk I’ll ever have to face as an entrepreneur in America, and I felt so ashamed that I had allowed ignorant remarks shape my life and translate into resentment, especially towards them. The very thing that I viewed as a disadvantage growing up as a foreigner, which I let cripple me with fear and insecurity throughout my childhood and teenage years, was now my biggest blessing. My perception shifter, and it transformed into pride, a strong will, and an unrelenting ambition to succeed. My culture is unique and beautiful, and so am I, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to become anything I choose. My entrepreneurial instinct kicked into

Many people from all over the world migrate to the United States for a variety of reasons, education, work, freedom, or for crimes like selling drugs, violence, terrorism , etc. Yet, after typically coming to the United States at a young age, they call it home. It being the only place they know, since they never return to their native country. For instance, Julia Alvarez in her novel, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, refers to the immigration experience, because after their initial struggle, immigrants feel more at home in the United States than in their own countries.

She did not have a very good life style with lack of food and shelter. Living in peoples basements, in churches, and in attics was to unsanitary. Evelyn and her family came to the U.S in order to have an improved life, while here her mother continued to try and support their family. To this day Aguado is still grateful of being able to live her life in an astonishing place like the U.S. She knows that if she and her family have not taken that extremely long bus ride her life would be totally different. Aguado informed me that she would “probably still be living in poverty. I probably would not have finished my education because most kids don’t make it to high school in Mexico. To be honest, I would probably be trying to sell things on the street”. Luckily she was able to push through and finish her education in the U.S, though she went to college she still struggled. While in the process of choosing and going through college, “I did not know what I wanted to do. I didn’t know what classes to take. I did not know how I was going to pay for them due to financial problems”. Evelyn was married at the time she decided to go to college. The only support Evelyn felt that she had with her college decision was her spouse, Eleazar Jr Aguado. When she was younger there was no one there to try and help her go to school. “Only rich white people went to college. My idea of college students or people who went to school was rich white kids. I

Escaping is not always the same as making it. Leaving your life behind, and coming to America in hopes to be able to live the “American Dream” is a lot easier said than done. There are many obstacles and challenges that immigrants face no matter their race. It’s a struggle for everybody. The documentary “Making It in America” follows the story of a Salvadorian emigrant named Alma. In the documentary she talks about the struggles she had faced, and the hopes and dreams she has of her journey here in America, but not just for herself but also for her two daughters.

Yolanda Ganong arrived in the US when she was 17 and stayed in a camp in Florida. In 1969 she graduated from Florida State university. Throughout her life, she’s worried with refugees and immigrants, helping them learn English. (Ganong, 2009) Similarly, the Pedro Pan Foundation focuses on giving money and support back to the Miami communities that welcomed them so well into the new country. Carlos Alamilla, the president, arrived in the US when he was 10, and never saw his father again. His organization has helped the homeless the financially disadvantaged, and new refugees. (Rhor,

Last but not least, my parents were much better off. My parents didn't argue as much and were caught up on bills. Right now they hardly kiss each other, they struggle