My Experience That Changed Me

As a child I faced many difficulties that most children at my age would never face, but in order to understand my story you must first understand my background. I was born in Mexico City, Mexico at the age of four my mom made an incredibly important decision that wouldn’t only affect her, but also me as her son. My mom, Rosalia, made the decision to move out of her country that she had grown up in, and the country that I had begun my life in, in order to move to the United States so that her son could not only be with his mother, but also his father. At that age I didn’t think much of it, but today I sit here and respect the decision that my mom made at that time, and appreciate the amount of courage and strength that it took my mother to make

My parents immigrated to the United States at a very young age. Having no higher education than elementary school, the only jobs they could find were working in the orchards. They would pick and thin apples during the summers, and prune trees during the cold winters. As soon as I was of working age, I would go out into the fields with them from early sunrise until the intense heat scorched our necks and faces. At a young age, I learned the harsh reality of what the daily life of an immigrant is. The long hours of hard work in the unforgiving heat of the sun; all for the low wages they were paid. These experiences in the orchard instilled in me a sense of drive to further my education and work hard to help families that were at a disadvantage as

I was 14-year-old when I left my country to move to America in March 2012. When I heard I was moving to the United States, I was so delighted words cannot even describe how excited I was that day. I remember the night before my trip I could not sleep. I was excited because my whole family was going to be with me. My dad migrated to Florida four years before we came, therefore, I could not wait to see him again.

I grew up in a small town in the state of Michoacan, Mexico until a few weeks after my seventh birthday. In 2001, after six years since my father petitioned to have us come to the United States with him and finally he had received a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that his request had been approved. Being of that age, I was my mother’s companion everywhere, however, all I could grasp from those conversations was that we were going to the United States. I don 't think any of us knew what this meant or to what extent this would change our lives, not even my parents whom I thought knew it all.

It seems like just yesterday Mom was telling me to pack my bags. We were living in a small farming town just outside Catarina, Mexico. Times were really tough and Dad had lost his job. My family knew of people moving to the United States for work, but my family never considered it. Our entire family resides in Mexico; the thought of moving was unbearable.

I was born in Merida, Mexico. That special day my father was in prison, he would leave our family by my fourth birthday. It would take me eight years to reunite with him in America. With two sisters and a single mother, I became the man of the house at a young age. Neither of my parents finished a high school education. I held my first job at age seven cleaning windshields at stoplights for any available change, in an effort to alleviate my mother’s burdens. My life experiences have taught me resiliency, hard work, and determination.

My mom brought me to America in 2002. This move was difficult as I had to leave my family behind. Up until then, I grew up in the midst of a large, extended family. I had cousins to play with and multiple adults to spoil me. Furthermore, moving to an entirely different continent where the culture and environment was different from what I was used to, did not help. I experienced quite a bit of culture shock and language became a problem. Those first few months when I could not communicate with my new classmates were lonely. On top of that, seeing my parents work so hard to build a new life in a country where we had no family to rely on, made me hate our situation. However, being an immigrant taught me some valuable lessons and shaped who I am today. At an early age, I learned to become more independent, more responsible. I had to learn to do certain tasks, such as making my lunchbox, doing my homework, by myself. I had to learn to adapt and to appreciate what we had. Each new place we moved to, I experienced something new. In Ohio, I learned what chicken tenders were. In New Jersey, I experienced my first snowfall. In Texas, I bought my first pair of cowboy boots. As I grew up, I learned to treasure what the United States had to

Our first year in the United States was one of the most difficult and challenging years of my entire life. I remember watching my mother cry every single day in the closet of that small one-bedroom apartment. Cried, because she missed home. Cried, because everywhere we went, she would feel the intense racist stares and mugs of people towards the new "immigrant family" in the neighborhood. Cried, because our way of life in Mexico was worthless here. My father struggled to find a job as his electrician certificate in Mexico was nothing more than a piece of

June of 2005, I came to America. My family and I ended up in Palm Springs, California, broke, without a home, and absolutely clueless on what to expect. Years later my mother would tell stories of my rebellious behavior as I had a tough time fitting in with the rest of the children; I would always lock myself in the car to avoid school and cause massive tantrums in classrooms when my mother wanted to leave me in a room with people whom I could not even communicate with. I am grateful for my parents bringing me here because if they had not, I would not be who I am today: a young adult with a very distinct knowledge of the side of the world that no one tells you about.

My experience of moving to the USA included a couple of steps such as preparing, arriving, and adopting. Moving to America was one of the most thrilling and exciting experiences I have ever had in my life. It all started after I graduated from high school. I had always dreamed of going to abroad to study in a better school to be successful in life. My dad was leaving me hints here and there that he was going to send me America for school, but I was sure that it wasn’t going to happen because getting a student visa was tough back then. However, that summer when I saw that letter in my mail from the immigration department of USA for an interview, I was speechless.

An accident last year changed my attitude towards life . That accident had a great impact on me , it taught me to treasure what i have and to treasure those people around me more . Although the accident was not life threatening , it was still the scariest thing i had ever been through in life . It was an accident that no one would have expected and wanted it to happen .

It was one life-changing experience I was seven years old when I became grateful for the things that I had. I remember packing for this big trip my parents were planning for a year now. I precisely recall my mother telling me to go through my closet and pick clothes I did not use to give away, I didn't know why, but I didn't ask, I just did it. As the day got closer I remember my parents had accumulated a great amount of things to give away. I quite didn't understand why they were gathering so many things and for what reason.

Returning to the Dominican Republic in 2012 was hard. I remember the Dominican Republic as a happy place not a grieving one. My little brother died in March of that same year. He drowned in the river close to our Dominican home when he was only one year old. When my sister and I arrived, we could hear and feel people’s whispers about us and our family. I never wanted to leave the house or play with any of my cousins. One day, my mom and uncle were arguing and he blamed my mom for my brother’s death. I started crying uncontrollably and I told her I hated the Dominican Republic and that I never wanted to go back.

An accident can happen to anyone at any time. It is so unusual and it happens because of our unwillingness and careless. I have heard news about people getting car accident in radio and TV. But this time I have experienced a nightmare incident in my life. I feel that everything happens for a reason .This is why my life has changed into a different one. Our life is designed in such a way that we have to learn various information as we grow up and we will learn by doing certain mistakes. Accident can amend your life in numerous manner: Realization of several mistakes, beginning of new sort of life, and lowers the level of quality of life.

In life we all have something that has changed the way we perceive things. Most things that change a person’s perception happens to be an experience that they have gone thru and learned from. In my case it wasn’t necessarily an experience, it was a dog that changed my perception on life. My mind and heart was opened in a whole new way. I never thought I could love an animal just as much as I loved the people in my life. I always thought it was strange that pet owners loved and treated their pets the same way they treated their children. My perception on dogs or pets in general definitely changed. Throughout this paper you will see why I am a totally different person because of a dog that entered my life.