My Adoption From Russia

The most challenging obstacle I faced was during middle school. Not only was I outcasted simply because my character did not fit into a whitewashed rich boy image.Most of my classmates would simply only think of themselves and how they can make themselves even more popular. During middle school I still hadn’t realized not fitting in would be fine. Not only did this incident brought me depression people simply didn’t care. Simply giving me punishments every time my grade fell. I would still tell myself to be happy that everything would be all right. But all it did was give me a fake mask to face reality.

My greatest challenge was overcoming my social issues. Two years ago I walked through the doors of Montgomery Middle School after moving from another small town...again. Before that, we had moved every year, so I never made lasting friendships.

I have overcome lots of obstacles in my life. They weren't the easiest to overcome, but I did it. There is one obstacle I had to go through which made me a strong individual mentally and physically. I lived in New Jersey for my entire life. I grew up there, I had all of my family and friends in Jersey. I was sure my future was going to rely in Jersey. During 7th grade, I got the news that we were going to move to North Carolina. I was thrilled to move to another state. As each day passed, I thought how I would have to start in a new school and make new friends. Every time it struck me knowing that I would have to start a new life. I was nervous not knowing what would happen to my future. I wanted to stay in New Jersey because I was scared of

Speaking English with friends from Saudi Arabia it’s a perfect example of how a personal experience can open up your eyes and realize that acquiring another language it’s an open door to many places you’ve never expected to have access to. I would say that a major challenge for me was the TOEFL test I took when I applied to a U.S. High School. Actually I did not get accepted in that school because of my low TOEFL results, and that never brought me down.

The most significant challenge I have faced was when I was growing up was reading. Reading is one of the most important things it was hard for me to say some words that I thought I was never gonna learn to read ever even if they were just small words or big words I struggle so much while growing up. When I was

Being from Russia and being adopted, this topic really hits home for me. I think it is absolutely appalling what the Russian government has done towards this issue. Two years later and American families still can’t adopt a child from Russia:

Please describe any socio-economic, educational, familial, cultural, or physical hardships or challenges you have overcome. You may attach a separate sheet if you need additional space.

The most difficult time of my life was when I had to leave my country after  having spent fourteen years living in India. As a kid growing up in India, the most significant event in my life was my grandparents deciding I would move to America right before I would start high school. Sadness fell on my face when my parents told me, as I never imagined going to America and leaving all of my friends. There are decisions that can unexpectedly change your life. Mine was coming to a new country and adapting to a foreign environment. After learning how to get through the last four years, I already have experienced a major life change, almost how it will be in college, being separated from friends and having to make new ones.

The extreme obstacles that I faced as a first generation Vietnamese-American presented many challenges that developed my character and solidified my strengths. My parents came from a third-world, communist country with only high school diplomas, which were not valid in the U.S. To feed and clothe their family of six, they had to work endlessly, and eventually our quality of life improved.

Coming to the United States for me was like a rebirth. It was a totally different life that I had to adapt to; a new language to learn and new people to meet. Frank A. Clark once said, "If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." This quote says everything I believe about hardship in life because adapting to a new environment for me was not easy. It was a path full of struggles, hardships, and disappointments. But without them I would not be who I am today.

The challenges I faced are financial struggles back in California, living with my grandparents until I know which parent has custody, learning english as a second language, and finding who I am. I lived in California for 10 years until I moved to North Carolina in 2011. The household size was 10 and money became an issue. My grandparents household consisted of my aunt, 5 cousins, grandparents, my sister, and me. Most of my clothes were hand me down from my uncle that visited every week and I went to an elementary school that require uniforms. There was always food in the house due to food stamps from the government and family members helping each other out.

Everyone goes through a challenge at some point in their life. I went through a challenge last year at the beginning of my freshman year attending Foothills Christian High School. Last year, my freshman year I did not know anybody starting the school year. This made me super nervous to start high school. I was also concerned about the three days a week at school and two days homeschool. One of my challenges was going to school and parts of that challenge was not knowing anybody starting school, having to go to school on three days a week instead of five, and not knowing the campus well.

A challenge that most of my family has face including myself is our immigration status, I would say it is our biggest challenge. Since only my father had a work permit and he was the sole provider of income for a family of seven up until the year 2012, when my beloved President Obama announced the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) memorandum; which aid our family greatly. When the announcement was made, my siblings and I, were crying of excitement. Due to the fact that we were finally going to have opportunity to improve our lives. My older brother was the first to benefit from DACA which made a huge change in our household because he was able to help my father with the household expenses.

However, I can recall when my parents came to get me the second time and finally adopt me. I remember a few things like When we were leaving Orenburg, we were on the plane finding a seat and my Dad found us three seats right on the wing we were in row A B & C. My dad took the window seat I was in the middle seat and my mom was in the aisle seat. They elbow bumped me a few times as fun, then mom told me to rest. I was incapable to sleep as a result that I was doing something that was outside of the Orphanage I couldn't sleep. Furthermore, I remember that our plane from Orenburg we pushed back then we stayed on the tarmac for hours then we finally started taxing again and that's all I remember of being in Russia.

Otherwise, history is destined to repeat itself as countries loose trust in the system and become increasingly closed to the practice of international adoption. One prime example would be Russia.