Personal Narrative: I Like United States

It was a few years back when I thought all good things in my life is over, and everything is starting to fall apart from me, the people I love and especially my best friend. I always try to find the ways to get myself out of that hole, it all happens when my family moved from Pakistan. I was born and raised in Pakistan. My parent decided to move to U.S.A because they knew this country can give me and my brother better future, education and opportunities.

Look around you, tell me what you see. Buildings, cars, cubicles, desks, people? What you’re seeing, that is America. The land of the free and the home of the brave. The place that I believe in, the place that you believe in. America may have its flaws, but that is what we love. These flaws make America different, they make America, America.

I was raised in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. I am an U.S. Citizen, and I was born in Fort Myers, Florida, but my whole life I lived in Mexico. I was raised with my two brothers in my grandparents’ house, because my mom was a single mom, and always worked hard to bring money for all of us. My neighborhood was one of the worst, or that is why people said. I never felt in any kind of danger living there, because I knew almost all the neighbors, and also I never like going out to much. My community was not always very unified, because everyone were on their own issues, but every time someone pass out or any inconvenience happened, everyone were there. That was the good thing of my surroundings.

America a nation of numerous nom de plumes such as the home of the brave, the melting-pot, the land of the free, and the land of milk and honey. These names have their own individual significance and it is what each of those names stand for that I am able to say that I am a proud American. To me being a proud American means understanding the significance of the many monikers that this nation holds and helping to ensure that these America remains deserving of these monikers.

For the past sixteen years, my father had always told me and my family that we were going to be relocated to the United States of America, but for some reason it never really happened. At this point, moving had become second nature to me but it was always in India. As my dad moved up the corporate ladder, I had moved to five different states in India before I moved to Maryland. But when my dad told us again that we were going to move to America, no one believed him.

I believe in America. America has made my fortune. And I raised my daughter in the

Life in the United States for us had been unkind. My father and I lived in a really beaten up trailer home in NE Portland. We had no money and were on the verge of being homeless. Too poor to buy food from the grocery store, we survived on nearly spoiled food from local food banks and the extra food I’d bring from school. Our trailer, with poor 1970’s insulation and paper thin aluminum tin exterior was an icebox that accumulated all that winter could give. We had no heating, nor electricity, so much of my of time, I spent at my high school, which kept me warm and fed me Monday through Friday. Conditions had been so severe that few times we just abandoned our lives the United States altogether lived in different countries such as Bolivia,

I remember grouping myself as only American thinking it was my birthright, and told my parents things like: "You should let me live like the other kids and give me allowance! It's not fair I just want to do normal things!" I looked different from the other kids at school but the cultural aspect was bigger than the racial aspect to me. I was too young to really grasp the implications then, and no one really talked about it to me. My grandparents lived with me for a while as a young child, and I grew up speaking Chinese at home. At preschool I started speaking English outside of home, and around this time they went back to China. In Kindergarten and later, I steadily spoke less and less Chinese at home - I had little incentive to keep learning due to lack of relatives who only spoke Chinese - and I felt the best way to develop and fit in at school was to learn English well.

A time when my value clash with someone else was during the spring semester of 2017. When I was talking the Poli 281 International Relations course. I was clashing with the teacher of that class because I have to write three essays that went against what I believe in and my personal value. So, the essays were about how America is the best country in the world, how other nations need America to save them and to make them more modern. Lastly one of the essays was about why American are mad about China trades and how Trump can help American trades. The reason these when against what I believe in and my personal value was when I was trying to explain to the teacher was these articles

I went to the United State four years ago. At first, I was really feel out of place. The weight of not knowing English and not having any friend heavily pushed me down to depression. I did not talk to anyone. Everything in my life went downhill. I got bully in high school my first year here. Because of how I look and how I talk, people would make fun of me. It went really bad that one day. I went to school at 7am as usual, and went straight to my locker. There were a word that written in sharpie on my locker. It said "FAGGOT". My face went blank. I did not know how to react, but stood still for five minutes. After that incident, I did not trust anyone. I completely "shut down". I started to self-harm and it was not healthy at all. However, feeling the physical pain made me forget how cruel this world is.

I was suddenly enveloped by a sea of human flags, foreign cheers, and curious grins. A blaring crimson “TEAM USA” snatched my attention, luring me to the comfort of home. I never imagined I would string comfort and USA together in the same sentence, yet in this vivid clash of cultures, I finally understood the far reaching impacts of community. Somehow, a set of navy blue warm-ups bound me to forty-two utter strangers in a way that I will never be able to fully understand.

“Those who don’t take risks don’t drink champagne.” The Russian proverb came into my mind in August 2011 before my first flight to the United States. That night I took a big risk and moved to America, because I was a fourteen-year-old teenager barely speaking English, and my experience abroad was zero. However, I had a strong desire to study abroad. My spirit was so strong that nobody could break it. I wasn’t like other international students who prepared for such a life in advance. I started everything from scratch. I didn’t understand what “Grade Point Average” meant, or the difference between SAT and ACT. However, my inner voice convinced me to never give up. There were nights that I felt so weak and unsuccessful just because I couldn’t understand my ESL

According to FamilyTree.com, my surname Suarez comes from the Latin term of “suerius,” which means pig herder. This makes sense because the area of Spain where the name originated from is in the north-western mountains Spain called Asturias; where farming, crop harvesting, and fishing dominates the economy. During the Spanish colonization around the world, Cuba was one of the territories that was colonized during the imperialistic events of the Spanish. Consequently, my Great Grandfather emigrated to Cuba where my family planted their roots. Not soon after my ancestors called Cuba home, corruption began to consume the island forcing those there to seek a free society elsewhere. Hence, I am a citizen of the Unite States of America.

Now that I’m home here in The United States, I’ve become more grateful that I live here. After being in Vietnam and experiencing the way of life there I have far more appreciation for everything, for example, we have a lot of different kinds of food here in the U.S., but in Vietnam food is harder to come by and is limited due to how less fortunate people are. In The United States, we have heaters and cooling systems, while in my ancestral country they don't have these simple things unless you have money. In the U.S., even our housing and clothing are better. It's easily accessible here at home, but in Vietnam, people often steal to have clothes for their family against their will. My culture and tradition affected my point of view of my lifestyle

I was born and raised in the east side of Africa, Ethiopia. I have 12 step-siblings, my mom lives in the rural part of ethiopia and lives in the poverty level with 8 of my siblings. Though I only know my siblings through summer visits once in every year, their way of life has always worried me. My father lives in U.S. with me and my 3 step siblings, since he is the only bread breaker in the house paying for college is impossible.