I Had A Good Life

Every human being on this earth has had different predicaments that have occurred in their life. All in which, have modified their perspective on ideas, future decisions, or past experiences. The lessons that life throws at you teaches you who you are and reminds you where you come from. My experiences have taught me to enjoy the advantages I have in life and to establish my dreams because my parents immigrated here from Mexico earning their residency, just so my siblings and I can have a chance at a good life. Since my parents gave me a chance to dream and make it real than that’s what i will do.

Being a daughter of immigrant parents has never been easy here in America. Both my parents worked excessively hard to be financially stable. Unfortunately at the age of ten my life changed. I learned that my parents no longer loved each other. The arguing and fighting my parents had, only damaged me emotionally. I was too young to grasp the idea that my parents were separating which become one of the hardest times for my mom to maintain my siblings and I. Shortly after, I began attending church and fell in love with the idea of getting closer to God. Luckily, my life took an enormous turn the moment I gave my life to Christ. God has opened numerous opportunities for my education. I am proud of all the accomplishments I have achieved in high

My parents always wanted to give their children the life they never had. I am Mexican-American, both of my parents immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. before I was born. I have numerous relatives, including my older sister, who do not have the same opportunities I have to achieve success because they are undocumented. For them, college was only a dream that could never be attained. Being the first U.S. citizen out of my entire family affected the way I thought about life. It was expected that I would attend college because I was the only one who had access to all the resources granted to American citizens. Although, I agreed with my family, the pressure to succeed and be a role model to my younger siblings was overwhelming.

By this time I had relocated to Atlanta, GA from Savannah, GA thinking the opportunities would be better. Once again I was unable to find a job to pay me what I thought someone with a degree should be paid. I turned down numerous jobs for a few months until I realized that earning some money was a lot better than earning no money. So I took a job at

My move from South Korea to the United States was to this day the hardest, most stressful event of my whole entire life. At the age of six, I gave up the comfort of my friends, culture, and home to move to a country halfway across the world. Korea was everything I knew and loved. Having never set foot outside of the country, all my dreams and aspirations were set in Korea. Although I was a fickle child and my goals changed constantly, they all were intertwined with Korea. I was going to become a pianist in Korea and teach piano to students. Another time, I decided I was going to become a math teacher at the school I was attending. My view of the world was limited, but I was happy in my familiar, safe place. My move to America changed my whole perspective.

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.

Coming from Cuba to The United States of America was a dream; however, a nightmare as well. I came to live to Miami when I was nine years old during fourth grade. My family constantly told me to study hard to be able to graduate from high school and go to college. In addition, learning a new culture, language, and educational system was tough for me. High-school graduation was my main goal to reach since I came to this country; yet, I had a long pathway to walk and full of challenges.

I came to this point of my life through an untraditional path. I was born in the southern Mexican peninsula to a hard working single mother. From an early age I learned the value of work. I began cleaning windshields at stoplights and polishing shoes when I was seven, primarily to help my mother keep my older sister in school. At the age of twelve my father offered to bring me to the U.S. to learn English and one day return to Mexico having mastered this precious skill. Although life as an undocumented migrant was filled with obstacles, false starts and uncertainty, I remained steady and I never abandon my dreams.

It all started in kindergarden when I read my first word “O-S-O” which means bear in spanish. The enthusiasm and thrill I felt knowing what I was capable of doing served as a fuel to my eagerness to learn and explore. Throughout my first three years of elementary school in Mexico I continued to academically excel. In first grade I managed to place first out of my class, second grade I placed second and third grade I came back placing first grade. At the beginning of fourth grade I had to leave school and move here to the United States of America being granted a visa. Of all the life experiences I have had I

Your family had big dreams. You were so small when you came to the US, just 6 years old. So innocent. Coming from Mexico City, its drastically different. You had no clue what was ahead of you. School was most difficult, you spent 3 years in an English learning class. Even after, many things seemed hard for you to comprehend. Yet, you stayed strong. When you got to high school things changed, all that work had paid off. From then on you only took honors and ap classes. You were president of National

I am not from San Antonio. I am not from Texas. I’m from California. Where no one twangs, or drawls, or even says hi to the stranger standing in line at the grocery store. Texas, half way across the U.S and what seems like a whole other country compared to California. It is a completely different place that I could have ever imagined living and calling home. I came to Texas to find myself. I didn’t know that when I came here, but it is what ended up happening.

I was born in El Paso, Texas to Mexican immigrant parents who did their best to raise me and my three siblings. Growing up in El Paso I never even saw myself applying to college, but then my dad made a bold choice to start a career in homeland security and that was when we moved to the DFW area. Ever since we moved to DFW every grade in junior high, i was talked to about college: how to get there, how to pay for it, and how to make it a reality. The thought of going to college never even crossed my mind before coming here. Now as a Senior in high school I'am doing everything in my abilities to make my dreams come true, to go to college and graduate to make my parents proud and prove to them that all their sacrifices haven't gone by without

Growing up, my parents sacrificed endlessly to ensure I would thrive in America; they were Mexican immigrants, weren’t fluent in English, and struggled to assimilate into American culture. Their barriers wouldn’t stop them from presenting me with an opportunistic life. I didn’t have the luxury of parents that had proper schooling; all they taught me was to work hard and to not allow anything to bring me down. I was raised in a low-income neighborhood, and as my peers were entangling themselves in drugs and gangs, I focused on my schooling. I knew the importance of education and all the fruits of labor that would eventually come with it. I didn't’ fall into peer pressure, I surpassed the expectations of my family, and most importantly, did not fall into the negative statistics that correlate with Latinos.

Time passed and I still hated Mexico. I complained every day, I wanted to go back to the place I loved, but a knife cuts both ways with a loose definition of origin, it’s effortless to feel as if you don’t belong anywhere. I started to see the bright sides of moving to Mexico, such as having my entire family with me and having more time to learn about the country I was born from and obtain pride within it. However, Mexico was not my country, it was always busy with people shouting and the school was not helping either. The school was far from accepting, everyone knew each other since kindergarten getting a new kid was like winning an exceedingly rare lottery. Everyone had a rough time adapting, but at the end, we all found our way, after all, intelligence is the ability to adapt. We stayed in Mexico for a year, this gave me enough time to fall in love with my country, I accepted the situation for exactly what it was instead of trying to manipulate it into what I believe it should be. However wonderful or substandard the situation was I would always find the solution. The traffic was unbearable, the city was too dangerous, my accent was confusing. I accepted these challenges so I could feel the acceleration of victory, I started to take the subway, never left the house alone and started to observe how everyone else spoke and copied their accent, even though hard work does not guarantee success, success cannot be achieved without hard work. We also gained a

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