My Dad: My Life As An Immigrant

“Mom, will I ever be treated as a regular person? When will I be like the others without people look at me in a strange way and make fun of me, when mom? When?” Those were the questions I did to my mom almost every day after getting home from school. Fourteen years ago that my parents brought me to this country offering a better life with better opportunities than where I was born. I was seven years old when came to the United States, but I still remember the happiness I felt when I first step in this country. Throughout the years, I have realize that not everything is easy and simple as I imagined. My parents worked in the fields because of the lack of a social security and not knowing how to speak English. Many Americans do not know how hard it is the life of an immigrant, they should have a consideration for us and not just blame us for the deviance of the United States.

With the settlement of first immagrants to America, this has been the phrase in which they preach. I seemed to those from an outside perspective of America, that this was the place to be. This was no exception for my grandfather. His valuable lessons of dedication, persistence and passion have shaped me into the person that I have become.

Looking back to the past, before I was born, I never really knew where my ancestors came from or why they even came here in the first place. It was never made a big deal in my family to talk about our history and the reasons why they came to American. So, I decided to do a little research and find out a little bit about myself, my culture, and my communication styles. I asked for a little bit of help from my grandmothers from each side of my family. I got an abundance of information that opened my eyes to a new past that I didn’t even know about.

Imagine going to a new country, knowing nobody, not even the language. How would you feel? What would you do? My family and I were in this situation thirteen years ago. It was difficult to completely start our lives over and build our family again piece by piece. Recently, people have deemed immigrants as ‘drug mules’ or ‘evil rapists’ and more and more frequently I see on the news the hate unleashed towards them. They are the ‘other’ and it is easy to say these things about people you don’t know. It is easy to generalize a group when you only know the crimes of one person. This country that was built on the hard work of immigrants has begun to hate them. As humans, we want to protect our family and those we love, even it it means saying horrible

Although my legal and registered name is “Kristal”, I no longer identify myself with that name. When I was growing up I was known as Kristal, the young girl who had nothing to worry about and lived a carefree life. Although I was never spoiled, I was sheltered from the cruelness of the world. Despite not possessing a high socioeconomic status, my immigrant parents worked hard to provide our basic needs. As a result of always possessing our basic necessities, the most painful experience I had when I was younger was my first heartbreak from my first crush; not from a close loved one’s death, not being homelessness, but from a stupid first crush.

Being an immigrant is not easy, specially when you have to adapt to another environment. Learning english was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. Every time someone spoke to me english, l began to get frustrated. Sometimes I used google translator to do the assignments and projects that they give me, and sometimes my classmate would translate for me the english sentence my teacher spoke, And it would help my english get better.

Being an immigrant is a mind numbing experience. I didn't know a speck of english and I barely understood my teacher. I had to adjust to the whole new culture. But at age 6 that was easy. I quickly figured out that in here we didn’t have to pray every monday. I didn’t have to put on a uniform everyday. I can easily get free food from the cafeteria when my mother signed me up for the free lunch program. In America I didn’t have to smell the canal and street trash anymore. In just 3 weeks my whole life changed. I got used to it for about 2 years, then I had to go back. Back to the gang-filled, starving, broken house that I was born in.

When I arrived at the parents’ house, the children were not present. The mother, father and parental grandmother were the only three in the home at the time. The house appeared to be clean. When I entered the home, the mother stated that the children were about to pull up with the aunt. I waited in the living room for the children to arrive. The mother went into the kitchen to cook some breakfast. A couple minutes later, the aunt arrived with the children. The mother had answered the door, and helped the aunt with the youngest baby. The children were happy to see the mother answer the door. The mother gave hugs to the two youngest daughters. The mother took the baby out the car seat and held him as she sat on the couch. The two daughters were

My dad teaching me how to drive is a dream. Seeing him come home every night from work is a dream. His attendance at my graduation later this year is a dream.

On one sunny day, I was helping my mom doing chores when she pulled me over to talk to me about something important. I was confused why my mom would want to me about something important, but I listened to what she said and followed her. What she told me was what her life was like back in Vietnam. She did not have much of an education. Instead, she stayed home with her mom to sell Vietnamese yogurt every day for a living. Since I was born in America, I never thought of life was like for others in developing countries like Vietnam. Hearing from my mom's experience, it stuck with me. I learned the importance of being grateful for what I have since they are a lot of people who do not have what we have in America and it made me want to help those who are in need. I was also inspired to do whatever I

When my mom told me to pack some clothes I asked her why she told me because we aren't we are going to Wisconsin to be with your family and ice cream with my brother when she told us it will happen in my room and she told us I was reading a book when it started my mom came in you don't me pack some clothes in your back she told me why where are we going mom I told her my mom told me to tell my brother Alex to come inside my room and said Wisconsin and said we're going to Wisconsin to see your dad's family oh yeah going to see my baby cousins next thing that happened we were in the gas station putting gas on the car and getting some chips and sandwiches then we were on the road and we were in Arkansas City my dad told us we were asleep during

Thomas waved on another immigrant, his clothes already clinging to his skin in the sweltering mid-July heat. This Thursday seemed to be busier than days prior, but perhaps, he thought, he was simply hot and tired. He had been stuck in the same seat for several hours, asking each individual questions and moving them along into the proper queues. His interpreter, a young woman by the name of Louise, had been sitting alongside him tirelessly translating the words of the foreigners into English. She was quite intelligent for a woman of her age, and stuck out among the other interpreters as well. Most only knew one language other than English, but she knew three: Russian, Polish, and Italian. She learned from her father, who was a professor at

Well, today is the day! After two years of me wiping tears and sheltering hearts, my soldiers get the opportunity to be in the presence of their father (cue fireworks and marching band). YAY (hint of sarcasm)! For me though, this is a time filled with mixed emotions. This is a day, I'm almost certain, that many single parents who lack the physical presence of the other low-keyed parent will cringe at.

She denied that she added a pinch of apricot brandy to her coffee, but I could taste it whenever she shared her coffee.

170 Morning Mississippi me and my family went to a family church we had a great time that we were going to go to my cousin house after we get out of church we drove around as I would a hurricane day who was so surprised at what the hurricane did then we went to a cousin's house but we got them my grandmother and I enjoy the family but it was the first time that meeting is the first time meeting them after that we went to her room and play with her stuff then we went outside the three of us went down the road to look at horses I didn't know that that's their horses and the people iTouch and I got stung after that we went to her house and her twin sister went to the playoffs fruits and vegetables like blueberries grapes blackberries and raspberries