A Whole New Country at the age of six
Janessa B. Belfort
Moving to a new country as a young kid is pretty nerve wracking. Adjusting to a new lifestyle isn’t easy either. Being away from family, friends, everything that you’re familiar with is the hardest challenge by far. Marilyn Torres moved to the United States from Puerto Rico in 1962. She was a fish out of water. She didn’t know the language. Her teachers didn’t understand her. She didn’t want to be in school. Every day was an obstacle she had to overcome.
There were many times when she felt discouraged and depressed. “I cried everyday, I didn’t want to go to school.” Life was very different in 1962, and moving to an entirely different country was nowhere near easy. Especially for a
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She went to Tyson-Schoener elementary school.
Marilyn Torres was Gary from Spongebob, quiet and afraid to come out of her protective shell. Her third grade teacher changed that. Marilyn remembers being close to her, she would stay after school and get help on her vocabulary and reading.
By the time she was married, her parents had moved back to Puerto Rico. Her mother wanted to be near her parents to be able to take care of them. Marilyn Torres was expecting her second child at the time. She felt sad knowing that her children would grow up without grandparents.
Marilyn Torres grew stronger each year despite facing many challenges. After moving from Puerto Rico she found a new home in the US. Her family grew and she was happy. Marilyn Torres is now a supporting and loving mother to her two children, and an amazing grandmother to her 4 grandchildren. She is an excellent example of someone who went through big changes and never once gave up. Even when she was sick of going to school where her teachers didn’t understand her, she still pushed through. Marilyn Torres truly is a magnificent woman. The world needs more people with the strength and courage that Marilyn Torres
maria sanchez was only six people tried to hit her with sticks hateful words at her were thrown hate to all with her skin tone she went to school on her own the kids all left she was alone she wants to learn everything in life but she goes to school with strife maria was brave and learned at school with one teacher who was cool her teacher smiles but maria sees her fear and uncertainty maria does her best to stand tall and not let her fear make her fall ignoring hate coming from the crowd maria makes her country
In the “The Achievement of Desire” and “Para Teresa” Richard Rodriguez and Inez Avila describe the troubles of balancing life at home and at school. Rodriguez conveys the difficulties he had to face separating from his own culture to achieve academic success. His article portrays the cultural world and the educational world as separate institutions that cannot coexist in America. Throughout his text Rodriguez provides detailed experiences in order to explain his thought process. Inez Avila however presents her article as a letter dedicated to a school bully. In contrast to Rodriguez perspective Avila wrote her poem in English and Spanish to appeal to Mexican -American culture. She walks the reader through an argument between her and a fellow classmate as she was cornered in a bathroom. Her poem depicts how children who share the same culture discriminate within their own community. Both these articles are told from a Latino-American point of view yet they radically differ from each other.
She was responsible, stood up to Trujillo, and followed her dreams to go to college and obtain a
It was a wonderful eye-opening experience to interview Carmen Anton, a Spanish immigrant for this project. I learned so many things about how she arrived in American as a small child with only her sister by her side and her strive to become American. The emotional struggles of Carmen and her sister, Elena, were real and I didn’t realize it was that emotionally draining to come to a new country. Her experience showed me how hard it is to fit into a new society knowing absolutely nothing about the world she was dropped into. The fact that she flew here with her younger sister and then live for three months without her parents to guide her in this unfamiliar setting, shows me how strong and brave Carmen was at the young age of eight. When she first came, she assumed it would be like
With her mind racing ahead of her she grabbed her backpack and ran out of class. Esperanza feeling hopeless began to drown in her tears. Her mind swirled in confusion she felt like an American but she also felt branded as an immigrant. Esperanza had heard the word immigrant cringe before through the mouth of her History teacher he identified them as people who were dangerous and un-educated that did not deserve to be in this country. Esperanza did not feel like she was a threat she wanted nothing more than to get an equal education so she could one day contribute to the land of promise. Esperanza pushed the doors to the girls restroom a part of her wanted to scream “This is not my fault I was only two when my parents crossed the border how was I to warn them that the promises were limited on the other
As a result, she lacked confidence in her education. She stated, “My early education did not partake of the abundant opportunities which the present day affords and which even our common schools now afford. I was never sent to any school; I was always sick.” Even though she did not attend a formal school it did not put her out of reach of a proper education (Peterson, 9).
This physical transition can have an emotional impact on a child as they may be moving away from family and established friendships to an unknown place. They may be worried that they won’t ‘fit in’ and make new friends. They may grieve for their old
Perla was born in Juarez, Mexico, then moved to Roswell N.M at the age of three. She’s the oldest one out of her two siblings and the only one born in Mexico. Her parents only spoke Spanish making it difficult for them to adjust living in the U.S. School was frustrating for Perla, so her parents began searching for someone who could teach her English. With the struggle of not knowing the language and coming from another country, she realized that she wanted to help people who were in a similar situation. She decided to take-up a career in becoming an immigrant lawyer, when she grew up. Now Perla is continuing to make good grades and tries to keep her 3.5 GPA, so she can graduate in white and receive scholarship offers. She participates in
Racism had tainted her life from the very beginning. During her childhood she attended a one-room school for blacks only. She was only allowed to attend school for a short time due to the ailing health of
In his book A Chance in the World Steve Pemberton tells us about growing up in the Massachusetts foster care system. Steve was removed from his mother 's care as a toddler and went from the life of an abused and neglected foster child with no self identity, to a successful, professional man with a family of his own. Steve breaks his story into three parts.
Salais change from avoiding her native language to valuing her bilingualism. As a child, Salais grew up in a poor neighborhood “El Paso, Texas” which made her to be ashamed of her native culture, because
on the atmosphere in which she was living. The scholarship being taken away from her,
Moving far away from family and friends can be tough on a child at a young age. It has its pros and cons. One learns how to deal with moving away from the people they love and also learn how to deal with adjusting to new ways of life. Everything seems so different and at a young age one feels like they have just left the whole world behind them. That was an experience that changed my life as a person. It taught me how to deal with change and how to adjust. It developed me from a young boy into a mature young man.
A nation is said to exist when it could traced its origins through the state, in which it associate itself with, histories. Additionally, the cultural elites must be established and well-versed in writing and speaking the national language. There must also be a valid reason for its claim on a certain territory. It is only when these three requirements are fulfilled will the international community consider their claim for a nation (Hobsbawm, 1990: 37). Disagreements, however, tend to arise in the political community over the definition of a nation. This essay will try to list out the different approaches employed in defining a nation starting from a nation being a natural cultural entity to it being politically and
Living far from home, even for a short period of time, can be really hard at the beginning. We have to remember that all changes are difficult, but they are