Me or My Family? My Decision to Leave Guatemala in Search of Better Opportunities

I was kidnapped. The men stole me from the toy section in Wal-Mart. Said they’d buy me a Barbie. They just had to find my mother, is all, so she could give them permission. I told them she’s shopping and that I know exactly where she is. When I realized they weren’t wanting to go in that direction, I got scared and tried to run. But they were strong. They gripped me a pulled me and told me they’d kill my mom if I screamed. Their grips on my wrists tightened as

Guatemala is a small country in central America, bordered by Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, and Mexico. Guatemala is best known for their indigenous Mayan culture and excavated ruins of the Mayan empire, nature, and their world class coffee. If you visit Guatemala, you’ll see that it is unique in many ways.

Not everyone has experienced traveling to another country, but many people dated another individual from another country before. From a life experience, dating someone from Guatemala is a big experience for me because dating that person I was able to determine how Guatemala culture is just by the way he carries himself. This experience is very interesting because I was able to gain knowledge on how Guatemalans do things and it was like learning something new that I never knew about. However, it is very difficult because we both really don’t understand each other’s language. This is why it is important to understand the major concepts of ethnocentrism because people won’t always be around things that they are more familiar with.

In 1964, Guatemala was being run by a military junta, violence was a part of every day life, the economy was in shambles, and jobs were scare (Cuevas, 2011). It was in this setting that a young man, my future father-in-law, took a chance at a better life for he and his family. Enticed by rumors of prosperity in the United States, Alex and his brother Rene saved their money to journey to Chicago, leaving their families behind in a search for hope that was borne of desperation. Alex left his wife Ruth with 20 Guatemalan Quetzal, the equivalent of $20 dollars, and their three children, Vivien, 5, Ingrid, 3, and Marvin, a newborn baby. What experience lay in store for he and his family? How would they fare in an unknown country, without

This is the story of an Indian immigrant, who wants to accomplish his American dream someday. I was raised in India which is economically not as well off as the United States of America. I completed most of my high school in India and immigrated to the United States at the age of 18. I graduated high school from Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, Maryland. Due to financial difficulties, I did not apply to any university and joined Howard Community College, which was truly a remarkable experience for me, showing me what it means to have an American college experience. I was not inclined towards engineering or medicine unlike my friends in India who had chosen to pursue those careers. I chose to explore the various options available in the United States. It was at Howard Community College that I was

to my family. It is hard for us to survive in a totally unfamiliar country and we

Listening to Dr. Navarro talk about all the difficult bumps throughout her life such as the struggle to self-acceptance and pursuing her dreams made me think about my parents’ sacrifices when they immigrated to the US. After I was born, it became clear that they could not provide the constant care and attention a newborn child needed while forging a new life in a foreign country. So I was sent back to China to be taken care of by my grandparents at two years old while my mother worked two jobs to

As upcoming high school seniors, many such as myself, desire scholarships in order to alleviate the financial burden that attending a university can bring. Though this considerable and generous scholarship prize money will be used to further my education at Texas A&M University, my main wish is to bring pride and satisfaction to my family. As a first generation student, I am humbled by the opportunity of obtaining an education in America. Since my parents were migrants from Vietnam and Hong Kong, a successful life here was unheard of many years before. Financial strains do occasionally plague our lives, however, we have not forgotten the strenuous hard work and sacrifice that my parents have conquered in order to put their two daughters through

A deportation of a family member can bring about many hardships for the entire family, but economically and emotionally. The topic of deportations is important given that “an estimated 4.5 million U.S. citizen children live in families in which one or both parents are undocumented” (Gulbas & Zayas, 2017). The voices of children should be researched further and heard when creating new immigration policies. I am interested in this topic given my own personal background. I grew up in a household where both my parents are undocumented as well as myself. Although I didn’t experience either parent being deported, I still recall consciously knowing that it can happen someday. This same fear of being separated by a loved one is experienced

Having studied computer science and electronics for four years after high school and not being able to get a decent job in my home country, Senegal, dismayed me. When I decided to come to the United States, away from my family, alone and at age 24, I knew it was going to be challenging and costly. However, I did it so I can earn a degree in Business-Information Systems and start a career in the field I love. It has been a circuitous journey, but obtaining

“Papa, no te vayas!” (Daddy, don’t go!) Those were the words that I said with tears streaming down my face every time my dad left our home in Mexico to return to California. I recall this fractured family existence, this inevitable sacrifice of separation in order to survive for seven long years, until my parents decided that it was time to reunite in the United States and finally become a stable family. While the United States was a new setting for my family, it was not a new place for me as it was my birth country. Yet, I remember feeling harassed and excluded, common emotions among immigrants to the U.S. and this new emotion created a fear I was unaccustomed to; I felt scared of this new lifestyle and of the limited possibilities.

My father wanted a better life for us, he thought life is making choices, and he wanted his Mom & children near him so he can be a father to us . In 1999 ' when my father calleds my Grandma and said, " we have to be in Kenya in order for the process to be porcessed. I still can remember how terrified I was leaving my homeland I had to leave my mom , freind , and my relative in Somalia.The process takes sometimes before you get approved. We moved to a place where everything was different culturly , religiously, and they spoke a language that I could't understand I was surrounded by a new environment and everything seems so hard . But then i adjust to that alien environment. I made friends , i learned the laugues "Sawahili" I was in a different land and I learn a different culture , there are a lot of surprises and somethimes difficult things that impresses when you are in a country that you have never been

Many people migrate from their country and go to the U.S. There are many reasons why people do this. Lack of job opportunity, poverty, diseases, tends to push people to leave the country. For example, in the movie “El Norte,” Rosa and Enrique, the brother and sister, lived in Guatemala, where they lived under the Mayan time. Guatemala isn’t a modern country. It doesn’t have electricity or advanced farming tools or fancy houses or flushing toilets. Life is difficult there. The poor work as farmers, but are paid very little. They are extremely poor and if they try to fight for their rights, the government kills them.

On an airplane roughly about eleven years ago, a little girl named Avelina Pacheco with her family were on their way to United State. Her family left their homeland to a diverse and new country, they brought with them the most valuable things, family and hope. They hoped for the better lives, and the better future for their children. Look at where Avelina stands today, a Huntington Park high school graduate and a freshman at California State University, Los Angeles, this can be seen as the reimbursement for the family sacrificed. She now has a bright, promising future ahead of her and a real world is waiting for Avelina to discover.

Growing up in a country where educational preferences were given to boys, my father went against the society norms and encouraged me to get higher education. Along with his guidance and my thirst for knowledge I was accepted in engineering program. I was happily pursuing my degree, when suddenly all this came to halt; my father was seriously ill. He wanted me to get married before he leaves this world. Few weeks later, I met my husband, who at the time was visiting Pakistan for his cousin’s wedding and within months I was married. I came to United States with a hope of better future and dreams of finishing my education, but was unable to do so as I was expecting our first child and had no one to help us with the baby. I dedicated myself to raise our daughter, but deep down that feeling of emptiness lingered. Life kept moving forward, we moved a few times, gradually I started to adapt to being a stay home mother of two beautiful girls. Numerous times I brought home admission forms from CCBC but started to doubt myself if I was going to be able to do restart after such a big gap? I started volunteering at my daughter’s school and was soon hired as a teacher’s helper to assist with children with special needs. While working at school, I was again in an environment that reminded and encouraged me to fulfill my lost dreams. In 2012, I enrolled at CCBC with no career path in mind: I just wanted start again! Once I started I never looked back and I will continue to thrive.