I was born and raised in Vietnam. At the age of thirteen, my family decided to move to America for living. The story of my life has no different than other immigrant students. The story of how parents decided to give up everything that they had built for years and came to another country for a fresh new start. The story of how people like me, immigrants, got mocked and discriminated for our broken English. The story of how I cried mostly everyday because I did not fit in within the society. And the story of how I struggle to find something that my family originally came to this country for, the American Dream. The story of my life is not original, at least not anymore, since there are a lot of people in this nation have the same story as I …show more content…
Seven years is not a short nor a long period of time, but it is long enough for me to discover who I am and what I enjoy doing. I enjoy going to school and studying something new. I enjoy meeting with people and making connection. I also enjoy seeing people around me happy when I help them going through their struggles. And I also enjoy interacting the with community. Hence, I involved with quite a lot of activities since I was a freshman in high school. I volunteered at MESA, Key club, public libraries, American Corps, UC Davis Medical Center, and many more. However, when I started my second year at community college, I quit volunteering due not having time for study and family. I am currently working and going to school at the same time. I work as a student help at the student support center at CRC to earn some additional income to pay for my transportation, pay of the family bills, and save some money for future education. I was little upset because I did not get to volunteer at the places that love to go to. Nevertheless, I have gained some experiment through this job. It helps to conquer my weaknesses. For example, I get to develop my communication skill since I meet and talk to different students most of the days; different student has different personality, some have hot temper and some are introverted. I have a chance to learn how to talk to them. This is an important skill that I need in
I walked around unsteadily all day like a lost baby, far away from its pack. Surrounded by unfamiliar territory and uncomfortable weather, I tried to search for any signs of similarities with my previous country. I roamed around from place to place and moved along with the day, wanting to just get away and go back home. This was my first day in the United States of America.
All people seem to want the same basic things out of life regardless of race or religion. Universally, people want a good job, a healthy family, and a chance for their children to have a better life than the one they have. Families that already possess these things, whether through their own hard work or merely by way of inheritance, rely on the existing power structures within society to ensure that their future happiness continues . But what do people who do not belong to existing power structures turn to in order to secure these things for their families and children?
Trent Shelton said “ The right decisions are always the hardest to make. But they must be made in order to live the life you deserve “. What Trent really means is everyone has to make a decision to live a better life. For example, moving to America makes my life a lot better than living in Thailand refugee camp. Sometime I was wondering what would happen to me and my family if we didn’t come to America?
Before I move to the states I had no idea of diversity here. Like many foreigners I knew nothing about north and south as too cultural concepts. The picture of an American in my mind was a white or black person. There were no place for other ethnicities. To be honest the picture of whites was dominant. As all I knew about here was through media and Hollywood movies which normally have white heroes. The only Americans I had meet before were American soldiers in the border of Iran-Iraq when I was traveling Iraq for a visit and the US embassy officers in Turkmenistan who did not waste my time in visa approval process. They all were nice and first realistic picture of an American to me. At the same time they were similar to and different from Americans that I met in the US. For sure 321,000,000 are not the same although that they may have features in common. In fact this is how we
I've been meaning to write, but work has been mighty tiring. Sally and I are in good health thanks be to God. I was also blessed to find both lodging and gainful employment. Our living arrangements are modest. Sally and I share two rooms in an attic for which we pay $4 a month. We live in what is called tenement housing. It is rather dark and it gets hot enough during the summer that we escape to the roof for respite from the heat. There is also the spread of disease to worry about. Sally and I have been lucky enough to avoid getting sick, but with people living so close to together and houses being packed closer together than sardines I fear that our luck will run out soon. We try our best to keep our home tidy, but there is not much we can
I believe that the ability to understand the world around you can tremendously influence a person. I have had the honors to experience many situations that broadened my perspectives in life. When I immigrated to America in 2006, I had no clue how greatly my education will be affected. Because my parents did not know any English, I had to accomplish all the work by myself. I understood their struggles of trying to put dinner on the table so I tried not to complain. They had given up their old life in Vietnam to give me a better education and opportunities, I did not want their effort to go in vain. Through my whole academic career, I pushed myself to do everything to my fullest potential because I have been given the opportunity that many other
There are events in life, which can change yourself or your way of thinking. As for me, I think the major change in my life occurred when I moved from France to America. This change has entirely affected my personality. Why? I arrived in the United States during the summer of 2002. It was really hard for me since my parents had only told me about the move in April of that year. Therefore, I did not have the time to prepare myself psychologically. My parents had talked about coming here for a very long time, even before I was born. Everything started in 1973. Indeed, my parents came from Iran to Europe in order to finish their studies and then to return back home. However, even at that time, they had not set their mind as to where they
The definition of an American is hard to explain. Some believe it is only about being born in North America, others believe it is about where your ancestors came from. The real definition of an American is someone who is free. Free to choose any occupation they want to do, free to get a good education, and free to speak or act for what they believe in. ‘
Could you ever imagine leaving behind everything you love and going to an unknown world just to have a better life and opportunity? Though this was a tough decision to make, my family and I had to leave behind everything, including all my relatives and friends just so we could all have a new and better beginning. I am from the Chin land of Burma with a population of approximately 478,801. For centuries, Chin people have undergone the brutal treatment of the Burmese soldiers and government. Because of this, Chin State has the highest poverty rate and many Chin people have lost our language.
Imagine moving to a totally new country at the age of 16 without parents. Well, my grandma Lise, at the age of 16 moved to America from a little island located in the Pacific Ocean, called Micronesia. She moved to America with an American named Jim, because she was supposed to get married to him and he wanted her to move with him to America. So my grandma and Jim moved to America.
As I got on the plane I knew my life was changed. The moment when I entered the US it was a new beginning for me. As most migrants would say; this is the land of opportunities, it was totally what I expected.
Life is about making choices, but some of them can even change our life. Two years ago I decided to come to America for my higher studies in Western Kentucky University. Although I knew it was really a challenge to me, this significant decision that I’ve made was going to change everything about my life and me. There are many things in life that can change the course of a person’s life. It can either make a positive impact or a negative impact on a person’s life. It’s always best to have the positive impact though. For me I have had a positive experience that has changed my life forever and that is coming to a different land and culture.
I wrote this book because I been thru it and to let immigrates know they are not alone. it's not easy,it's hard but it's worth it.I am half of America and half of Syrian.Mysource is my life.Everyday people leave their country to move to another country and if they read this book, they remember their country and when I came to America I try to find books that share same feeling.Leaving something or someone is hard, when you truly love someone and they break up with you, you will remember them, they always in your mind.tears will fill your eyes everytime you go bald. home is place we all belong there , is not about how expensive the home is or how money you have or how pretty you are.”I felt a pang -- a strange and inexplicable pang that I had
On July 11th, 20011, my life was forever changed. In that day, I moved from Congo to the United Sates. It was excitement and fear at the same time, because my life was no longer the same. When I arrived in Atlanta, I realized how much efforts and sacrifices I had to make to adapt the American culture.
Transitions are never an easy thing to conquer. It is often hard and stressful to cope with changes to one’s surrounding, but in the cases in which one manages to conquer this obstacle, elevation of knowledge and experience are great results gained from this achievement. I originally came from Africa and recently moved to the United States to join my mother and my step father. This great change in the things I had become accustomed to in my daily life was not easy, furthermore taking into account the fact that I had never experienced a transition so little as shifting from one residence to another.