Personal Narrative: My American Dream

Studying in a foreign country is an interesting experience of an individual lifetime. One tends to learn a number of things relating to ways of life in a foreign land. Social, political and economic values and aspects are usually different from one region to another. Therefore, through studying abroad one is able to learn different issues about another society such as gender and sexuality issues, social class and race/ethnicity issues. Having come from a developing country studying in the U.S.A has been a great experience personally. This paper will attempt to provide a reflection of my personal experience on studying in the U.S by comparing the history of Angola and the U.S.

I despised what she said when I left. I was engulfed in anger by not being the favorite. I was rebellious because I was different, but I always found my way to get what I wanted. Mother always fought with me though I didn 't know the reasons of her anger. My siblings teased me for being a carbon copy of my father and becomes the talk of the town. For whatever reason she had, it built grudges within my existence. I always asked why she hated me when I was the only one by her side.

Growing up in Ghana, I had heard a lot of things about the U.S. This was a country I had always wanted to visit; my prayer was answered when I got the opportunity to travel there. Arriving in a new environment came with many experiences. Adjusting with food, language and the weather was not easy. With the passage of time, however I have been able to0 adjust and fit it. This write-up therefore is to elaborate on my experiences since coming to U.S.

On a bright sunny Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, started off as an ordinary day where Americans were out working to achieve their ambitious goal called the “ American Dream”. I decided to grab a coffee to start off my day. As I walked by a street vendor, he nicely asked: “ It’s a beautiful day huh?”. I smiled and answered, “ Yes it is sir”. “ What are you up to today? Are you in a rush?” he followed. I answered, “I’m just on my way to grab a coffee and get some fresh air”. He waved as we finished our conversation and I continued towards Starbucks.

I didn’t believe in aliens until I was abducted by them. I was put in some kind of contraption and I’m not sure what happened exactly, but it’s clear that I’m not where I was. Everything in 2016 is different, I don’t know if I’m in a different state or not but people are dressing differently and acting differently, and the cars, the cars are all different! I’ve been here for quite some time now and have noticed a lot of differences from where I lived in Oceanside, California in 1940. I’ve been transported to the year 2016 and there are so many things that have changed and evolved and among them are political, economic, social, and cultural changes.

Moving to the United States is a huge step for an immigrant. As an international student, I have been passing through this event that most Brazilian desire to. However, it is hard to adapt with the new culture and lifestyle, knowing that I have my own values. The “Two Ways to Belong in America” illustrates two views of getting used with this new culture, in which I identified myself with one of these ways: my nationality cannot be change with a simple paper called green card. Thus, starting a new life in a foreign country is tough because I have to find a way to readjust to this new culture, not ignoring

“American Dream.” Those two words are what drove my parents to escape the challenges of living in poverty stricken Colombia. Being a first generation, young, female, Latina immigrant my upbringing has made me fortunate enough to embrace all of the opportunities available for me.

I am the American Dream. The President and I, alongside our family members are the chosen ones. I can not tell you how blessed we are by calling the greatest nation on Earth, our home. We can not be a better example for the rest of us living on any part of the God gifted planet of you and I. While Mrs. Clinton was making a few hundred thousand dollars a speech, I can recall Barack and I having a car that was so rusted, we could see the street and the sidewalk from the side of the door. But for as far as I can remember, he never was late on a date night. Although I was once or twice. Our students loan was even more than our mortgage. But living in the Beautiful House for almost a decade now did not change us as who we are, even dating back to

Walking, walking, and more walking. Today is the day that we begin traveling to Fiume to board a steamship to this place called America. My family doesn't have a lot of money so we can't afford a ride to the port. I only have one pair of shoes and they have many holes in them. We've walked for what seems like an eternity or at least to me. Today is very bittersweet. We're leaving the only place I've ever called home to live in a place we've never seen before. IM not ready to leave. I love Italy but I know it is no longer safe for me, my mom, and my dad. I'm only six years old but I'm old enough to know this could be all a lie. What if America isn't so amazing? What if we done make it? What if we get sent back? So many questions and not

Living in America gives us many freedoms and many blessings. I started my life in the Ukraine. This situation or circumstances I do not know. I came to America when I was 18 months old. A nice family, who lived in America, changed my life by adopting me. Being an

That’s basically all I could understand as I left the immigration center. People all around me were talking in languages I had only studied in textbooks, which barely helped. That was the first time I could really look around and see where I was. The sound of car engines roared in my ears as I walked across the street; people squashed into a small bus while chattering in a garbled language that made no sense. Everywhere I looked I saw chaos, and I couldn’t have been happier.

My “American Dream” wasn’t exactly my American Dream so I’m gonna make up some stuff. The way I will achieve my American Dream is to kinda try in school, just enough to pass it at least, and I will help out my community by doing things around in my area which is almost nothing because I live in the middle of nowhere. In school I will need to finish my English work and complete all of my aows. In Algebra I will have to try really hard because math is super important in life but math is extremely hard and and is dumb but you have to have it.

Living in America has its ups and downs. The different culture and people is what makes America to me. Every day I learn something new while I go to school in America. Personally, as the days go back I carless about humanity and more about myself and how to improve myself. Money has become a major need for me recently and I don’t believe in love anymore. Sometime I just sit and think what kind of person I be like if I keep living in America. I’m happy I can here for school, I don’t think I would know this must about life. And as the days pass by I learn so much more about myself that it makes me question if I ever knew anything to begin with. Unfortunately, I still wonder what life would have been like if I did my college education in Nigeria.

America’s gift to my generation is freedom. Freedom is the right to do what one wants, lives where he/she wants, eat what they want, and choose the religion in which he or she believes in without ignoring or harming other people’s rights. Freedom is an important gift. Freedom allows schools, buildings, and public places to have many types of people; gays, lesbians, Asians, African Americans, girls, and boys. Back when Martin Luther King Jr was alive, their schools were segregated; meaning Caucasian people couldn’t go to school with African Americans. Some of my best friends are not the same race or religion as me. Well I, had the gift of freedom to choose my friends. I have one best friend since the second grade who isn’t the same race or religion

My parents were both born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was extremely difficult for them to live in Malaysia because money was always an issue. They weren’t happy there and so they made the difficult decision of immigrating to America twenty years ago, a couple of years before I was born. They came to a foreign country with hardly anything, but hope. Hope to have a better life in “the land of the