Personal Narrative: My American Identity

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.

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.

“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.

As I stepped off the plane, the frigid air sliced through my face, just as the cold, harsh reality hit me: I’m an American now.

I am the second oldest of seven children and grew up in a middle class home. My father is Puerto Rican and Dominican and has worked hard to provide my siblings and I with everthing we need. I lived in New England, but moved to Minnesota on my tenth birthday. My parents taught me at a young age to search for my meaning and purpose in life and to use the gifts God has given me not only for my own success, but to service others. My gift of strength quickly made way for world records and winning world championships in powerlifting. I was also a long distance runner but after tearing both meniscuses and requiring surgery I decided to focus more on lifting and throwing. I am an All-American in both the shot put and discus. I am a captain on the track

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.

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

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.

Some people view the outside world as a dangerous place full of disparity and misery, others like to embrace that unknown and try to use it as a catalyst for inner growth. I like to see myself as the latter, the individual who lives for the rush of the unknown. I looked down to see what I could only describe as a dream come true. It was a ticket for a six month tour around Asia that would lead to the complete immersion of native culture and tradition- Vietnamese Pho, the mountain folk of Nepal, the Muay Thai martial arts of Thailand, Chinese Architecture and the beaches of Laos are some of the places that we got to experience first-hand. As a participant I was expected to live with 15 other individuals from around the world that I had never

Anyone who has the desire to live in the Unites States of America knows that it is the greatest nation among all nations. People either have little knowledge of other countries to believe this general notion or have truly seen and been informed of the opportunal prosperity that exists in the spirit of America. The American Dream is the idea that sets the minds of people determined to be part of a great nation because everyone has the equal opportunity to become successful and prosperous, if you work hard enough to achieve it. The American Dream is the reason why so many people come to the United States in search for better economic and liberty opportunities. What causes frustration and discouragement to enter this nation is the fact that the

Living in the United States shaped my character. When I was young my family moved from refugee. In the beginning life was tough getting adjusted to the american life. At a young age I understood that some people looked down upon me because of my background. I had a hard time getting along with other students because of cultural clash. After a while I was able to understand the American culture. My mom was a single parent with six other children and the only place we could find to live in was a neighborhood that was not safe. My mother would never allow us to go outside because she was afraid that we would get in trouble. It was not until college that I was able to understand all I was missing out in the world.

As my family and I were driving in the car, I saw a sign that said something about being an American. I thought to myself, isn’t everyone an American that lives in America?

There are 323.1 million people currently living in the United States but somehow, we all have our own journeys that form who we are. There’s not one person that has a similar story to another individual. It’s pretty extraordinary if you think about it, let’s take a second and take a look into my journey and views on being an American.