Personal Narrative: Migration To Sarnia, Ontario

My family comes from a humble background. My grandmother started working at the age of 13, with small jobs in order to feed her siblings. My grandfather worked many hard labor jobs in order to provide for our family. With my grandfather’s hard work, he was able to bring my grandmother, my two uncles, my father, my mother, my brother and I into the U.S. My grandparents decided to migrate to the U.S because in Mexico, they had nothing. They had enough to eat but they were still struggling to come out of poverty. When my grandparents migrated into the U.S my grandfather would still work a blue collar job, until he fractured his spine and couldn't work anymore. Nevertheless, that did not stop him from working. He began selling in swap meets, selling

I was excited to talk to Ajaz, my best friend from the age of four to thirteen again. We’d had an inconsistent friendship (though we’d never fallen out) over those nine years: from spending every class and break together for our first couple of school year together, to barely speaking to each other later in primary school. Prior my family and I moving to Canada, however, we were as close as we had been aged four. Ajaz was already sat at our pre-arranged meeting point – a small park that neighboured our primary school – when I arrived our pre-arranged meeting point. We walked through the neighbourhood, passing the house in which I grew up. The conversation was predictably awkward, nevertheless, I expected the conversation to loosen up after

Although I am Canadian and still carry Canadian traits, adopting new traits from being in a different environment has helped me grow and become a better individual. Someone who doesn't move will forever lack certain traits because you are not exposed to different environments. Being from a different country, I have different thoughts on an American than Americans, but after being in America my perspective has altered. Being able to adapt to situations and environments, just as the frontiers had, has lead me to take more pride in my individual self. Going trough life significant life experiences has made me appreciate values of Americans like freedom and justice. The western mythology has helped shape this nation and is responsible for many

My mom Andrea Svank moved from Hungary to Canada in 1998. My mom was born July 19th, 1970 she was born in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. She got the idea to move to Canada because her husband Joszef Svank (my dad) went to Canada to visit his aunt and uncle for 8 months before they met. When they met he always talked about how nice Canada is and that one day when there married he wants to move to Canada.

When my family and I moved from Canada to United States 6 years ago, it was very hard for me and I had to meet and make a new group of friends. I was born in Canada, and I lived in Ottawa all my life until my family and relocated to Atlanta in 2011. At the time of the move, I was eleven years old and I had just finished Grade 5. I remember when my mom told me that we were moving to Atlanta, Georgia I didn’t know where that city was because I only knew the cities in Canada and not in Georgia. I was very sad and excited to move to a new city. I knew I would lose my friends in Canada but I also knew I would get to meet and make some new ones when I get to Atlanta.

It’s been almost five years since my family has moved to Canada, and I have never felt left out before. I never thought I ever would, but ever since I started attending school in Canada I had the fear that no one would like me.

Despite the dependability I have on my hometown of Calgary, Alberta it cannot surpass the overwhelming warmth and hearth which abundantly resonates within Warsaw, Poland. Perhaps it is simply the lasting effects of having first generation Canadian immigrants as parents who constantly reminisce on childhood adventures or just the inexplicable sheer bliss being in Warsaw has. Suffice to say, the sensation does not limit itself to the explicit ethos of Warsaw, but in fact compels me to miss the people – not purely family, but rather the inexplicably and enlightening aura of harmonized unity amongst individuals who retain some acknowledgeable altruism. I attribute the absence of this quality to be why I do not consider Calgary to be my primal landscape.

My ancestors first came to Canada around 1845-1852. The names of the first people in my family to come to canada was Robert Young and Anna Young. They came to Canada from Ireland.

My parents weren’t the first people in their family to move to Canada. Two of my dad’s brothers had lived in Canada for ten years prior to when we moved. Due to the downfall of Iran’s economy and constant war threats towards the country, my parents decided after they had me that in order to build a better life for not only me but also themselves, that the best choice was to move to another country. They’ve always dreamt of moving to Canada, so when they got the news that they were granted their VISA, they were overjoyed and eager to start a new life. They said that when the date got closer they began to have second thoughts. Imagine living somewhere for your whole life, your childhood, your teenage years and your adulthood, then having to leave

I came to Concordia due to its quiet, laid back nature campus. The $15,000 a year for being Lutheran and it being only an hour and a half away from my home doesn’t hurt either. My hometown happens to be on the Island, it’s called Massapequa. That is where I live with my parents and three sisters, two of which are my triplets, something not many people know. As for my major I plan on majoring in middle education, grades 7-9. This is something I had considered before but, I settled on this after the school offered extra scholarships if I went on this path, and it was also something that felt right for me. I am a part of the Men’s Glee Club as well as gospel knights, this alludes to my obvious love for music. Currently I want to pass all my first

It was my husband Kris’ idea and not at all surprising. He was definitely the more adventurous one out of the two of us. Growing up, I tried desperately to please my parents while Kris had a much easier life. He was the only son between his two sisters and had an aptitude for picking up skills quickly while still maintaining his cool, calm personality. While I was stressed everyday trying to figure out each calculus question, he flew by physics without a hitch. Kris wanted to see the world and find out what was out there while I was happy and content with my stable job.

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my old dusty chair watching the news. I was just thinking about the day’s work ahead of me, and wondering if my body will make it through the day. I heard a car door slam. I imagined that it was my wife pulling in, but that would be impossible. I wondered who it could be. I do not get many visitors this time of year, not in the off-season. Could it be the fella that was on the news? They said a girl was murdered in Iowa and the suspect got away, and may be on his way to Canada. Then a loud knock on the door filled the empty room. I got out of my chair slowly, like a pregnant woman would, and made my way to the door. I could hear a creak with every step I took, and only God knows if it came from the floor, or these knobby knees.

As I walked to the parking lot where my mom had arrived to pick me up from school, my sister ran out of the car, ran towards me and yelled excitedly, “We’re going to Canada!” Having grown up in Kuwait for my whole life of 15 years, I could hardly believe my sister’s words. Going to Canada! I had only been out of the country twice, each time just to vacation and visit family in the Philippines where both my parents are from. I had always imagined what life would be like outside of Kuwait, and now it was finally going to be real. My 15-year old self was devastated - We were leaving the only home I had known for 15 years. It did not take long for my sisters’ excitement to die when we realized that we would be leaving our friends and everything we’ve ever known and not returning for a long time. Life in Kuwait for 15 years was comfortable and we were more than financially stable. Moving to Canada without a job offer in place meant that we would have to start from the beginning all over again. Goodbyes were hard but my parents encouraged us to see the joys of moving to a place where we could start over and become accepted citizens of a country. Arriving in Canada, I experienced the biggest culture shock of my life. Vancouver, BC was cold, wet, and loud. I had thought adjusting would be relatively easy; I spoke English with a slight accent but I was very shy that it confused some of the other kids to think I couldn’t speak English. I did not understand the culture, which took a

Munro grew up in town of Wingham in southern Ontario. She remembers the days when she was young and the town was full of nature and beautiful sites to view. When she went to British Colombia she longed for Ontario landscape. After fifteen years when she came back to Ontario the land had changed .she looked around to see any beautiful landscape and found none. Most land had been used to build schools and hospital. People had fenced their lands and trespassing was not allowed. She couldn’t cut through lands without owner’s permission as before. The river and streams that had clean water for animals to drink and humans to swim, had been choked with various kinds of algae and water plants over stimulated by fertilizers flowing from the fields.

For nearly my entire life I was a quiet, shy, and reserved person. I was afraid to put myself out there or talk to new people. At the end of February, I was preparing to fly to Ottawa for Encounters with Canada, and I would be surrounded by new people. When I stepped off the plane a few weeks later, the nerves were really starting to kick in. I found the representative and found myself waiting on a bench next to two girls who only spoke French. Eventually, a chatty group of girls came off their plane and sat down further on the bench. My mind went blank, I couldn't spend a week alone! Then a thought popped into my head. No one here knew who I was, for all they knew I could be the most outgoing person on the planet. So I decided, that's exactly