Embrace What the World has Given to You

For the past seventeen years of my life minus a few months, I have lived in the United States. I grew up skiing and bicycling in Grand Rapids, Michigan, until my family decided to move all the way out west to Flagstaff, Arizona. Many eleven-year-olds might become stubborn and defensive in response to such a massive, life-changing move, but I remember embracing it because I was with my family, and I was ready to face any obstacle that unveiled itself to me because I knew that my late comedic father, my worrisome mother, and my troublesome brother would be right by my side. As we made the two-day drive from Michigan to Arizona in our SUV together, we watched the numbers on the odometer crawl up more and more until there were 2,000 more miles on the car than there were when we started, and we

I came to US during my 8th grade and that was a life changing moment in my life. It was first time traveling aboard and that also not for a trip but for to permanent settlement. I was nervous my whole time been in the plane that how I will cope up with new environment and with bunch of English speakers. I got more. When it came pilot call for, that it's time to land on the Detroit Airport, tighten your seatbelts and be relax. As soon as the plane landed on American soil, I knew that this was the place where I’d to start a new life. Even though I knew America is the “Land of Opportunity”, everything here seemed so strange to me, the streets, the language and the people that was my first time traveling abroad.

I was 14-year-old when I left my country to move to America in March 2012. When I heard I was moving to the United States, I was so delighted words cannot even describe how excited I was that day. I remember the night before my trip I could not sleep. I was excited because my whole family was going to be with me. My dad migrated to Florida four years before we came, therefore, I could not wait to see him again.

The process to come to america was really long. My dad spent many months and thousands of dollars to see our futures be as bright as they can be. My sister, my father, and I finally broke the news to our family. Seeing my family so sad was one of the hardest things for me. I knew

Moving to the United States was a difficult experience for me. At first I felt like I had no family. I only had my daughter and my husband. But things have changed for

Coming back to the U.S. for the second time in my life after nine years was perhaps one of the most challenging obstacles I have ever had to face. Not only did I have to accustom myself to the language but also to a newer, differentiated culture. Also, with that came some bullying and taunting that did not pull me down but instead opened my eyes to see what a strong and enduring person I could be. With help from my teachers and my supporting family as they helped buffer my experience and transition to a different world, I was able to overcome the typical immigrant challenge that thousands have to face.

Arriving at a foreign country at the age of eleven years old was and exiting and yet intimidating experience. High buildings, wide roads, newer and nicer cars on the streets were some of the first things I noticed when I arrived to the city of Los Angeles CA. Living in a country where you were not born in could be difficult some times. Although Spanish is spoken at a grand scale in CA, it was difficult to communicate with and understand the teachers from my classes at the elementary level since all they spoke was English. Los Angeles is a city of great diversity, therefore it is believed to be the perfect place for any person arriving from another country to not feel like a foreign, such believe

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

I am Indian. My entire family is Indian. I am the very first child to have been born outside of India. My parents’ generation were the first to marry into non-Indian families. So America is pretty new for us. However, there isn’t really anything special about us coming to this country. My aunt came for school. My father came for school. My mother came because of my father. They all came by plane comfortably, and never experienced an adventure while coming into the US. It was the most boring travel story EVER.

Prior to moving to the United States, my life was less challenge and much easier. I was not an independent person. I did not know to do a lot of things in the past. For instance, I could not cook, I never took bus, I did not know where to get an ID or a driver license, and I was not sure where to fix my scooter if it was broken. I simply made a phone call to either my father or my mother, and they handled everything for me. I could have done all the above things, but I did not want to because it was nice to have my parents take care of me. Additionally, I often spent time with my family and friends. We planned cook-out dinners, baby showers

Moving to America is the most significant event in my life. It was like I have to start my life from beginning. New people, new culture, new school, and everything that surrounds me was new and different from the one I have been used to. From day one I was a confident girl, who can outcome any situation. But still I was little scared about how to fit in in American culture and how to express who I am. Even though the main reason why we moved to US was not education, but my main focus was on study.

I came to the United States on October 1st 2009. As an eight-year-old, I didn’t realize the changes my life was about to go through. I would always dream of coming to the united states because of the amount of opportunities that I could have here, that I could never have in El Salvador. Although, I didn’t comprehend that would mean leaving my whole family and making such a huge change in my life. Growing up in El Salvador I got used to depending on my family and having their support no matter what. After I moved the changes were really hard for me: Not having my family around, learning a new language, and getting used to a new lifestyle; took me some time to get used to.

My family’s euphoria refueled our motivation to chase the American Dream. I finally started kindergarten after 5 months in the United States. I had already finished kindergarten in Mexico, but due to my birthday being after August and because I was yet to learn to write and speak English, I was forced to repeat kindergarten. I was learning to speak English at a surprising rate. Everything was going more smoothly for the family. Although not as an electrician, my father found a job and I helped him with some of the English I knew to fill out applications and communicate with people. I finally started to feel that life in the U.S might be worth

My parents and I immigrated to America when I was three years old. Back then, I did not realize how dramatically this move would change the course of my life, all I wondered was why I couldn’t understand a word anyone spoke. With the support of my parents and teachers, I was able to quickly catch up to my peers both socially and academically. I was aware of the size and diversity of the world from a young age because I frequently travelled back to Russia to visit family. At school, I described the journey to my friends and we all became engrossed in learning about unfamiliar cultures and languages.

My experience of moving to the USA included a couple of steps such as preparing, arriving, and adopting. Moving to America was one of the most thrilling and exciting experiences I have ever had in my life. It all started after I graduated from high school. I had always dreamed of going to abroad to study in a better school to be successful in life. My dad was leaving me hints here and there that he was going to send me America for school, but I was sure that it wasn’t going to happen because getting a student visa was tough back then. However, that summer when I saw that letter in my mail from the immigration department of USA for an interview, I was speechless.