Personal Narrative: My Immigration To America

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

“Times of transition are strenuous, but I love them. They are an opportunity to purge, rethink priorities, and be intentional about new habits. We can make our new normal any way we want”. -Kristin Armstrong. When I heard this quote it reminds me of a specific time in my life when I moved to another country. There are a couple of events that helped me become who I am now.

I came to US during my 8th grade and that was a life changing moment in my life. It was first time traveling aboard and that also not for a trip but for to permanent settlement. I was nervous my whole time been in the plane that how I will cope up with new environment and with bunch of English speakers. I got more. When it came pilot call for, that it's time to land on the Detroit Airport, tighten your seatbelts and be relax. As soon as the plane landed on American soil, I knew that this was the place where I’d to start a new life. Even though I knew America is the “Land of Opportunity”, everything here seemed so strange to me, the streets, the language and the people that was my first time traveling abroad.

Coming to America about six years ago and adapting to the new world proved to be a real challenge for me. Aside from the cultural shock, I had to adapt to the usage of a foreign language in almost everything, which in turn forced me to work harder in my studies than in the previous years. My parents sacrificed a lot for their family. They left their country, their own business, and their family behind so that my sisters and I could have a better future. I came to America when I was in the eighth grade. I did not speak English fluently or understood it very well. When I got the admission in middle school my counselor gave the course selection sheet. I did not even know what courses to pick because the courses were almost alien in nature, or

The American Dream doesn’t run on magic and fairy dust, it is fueled by hard-earned American dollars, persistence, and hope. Most modern, working class families can’t expect to receive a reasonable income to cover things such as medical expenses and emergencies. With that said, the stay-at-home parent trying to reach the goal of a perfect oasis is even more taboo. It’s hard to achieve this “dream”, when you’re the only breadwinner in your household. Parents can no longer live comfortably, and in some cases even survive, on one person’s income. The costs of homes, transportation, and education combined with incredibly low wages often leaves families in a crippling financial situation, making it virtually impossible to, “keep up with the Jones’s.”

The amount stated above is relatively the same income that my father earned during my high school years. When I graduated high school in 2009 my family was going under a great financial stress due to the recession and its effects on jobs like construction. Over the years, construction has started to upsurge, due to the heavy deterioration construction takes on the human body and my fathers age he has to reduce his job intake in order to prevent irreversible damage in the future.

Americans that are living pay check by pay are struggling to pay their bills every month, of these, most of them earn only minimum wage which is “$ 7 .25” Epstein, R, & Bedford, K. (2014) , p,3. Working full time, 40 hours a week and 52 week a year. The average Americans that are working minimum wage jobs are providing for families on a full time salary which is not enough to pay for the hose hold bills and proved for every day necessities; this forces them to find a second job. In 1996 the number of people holding two or more jobs averaged Barabara Ehrenreich (2011) “7.8 million or 6.2 percent in the workforce” (p.45). According to Michelle Conlin a senior writer and editor of the Working Life Department and Aaron Bemstein a senior writer on Workplace and social issues, 63% of United States families below the federal poverty line have one or more job. More than a “third are 18-25- year old” Conlin, M., & Bemstein, A. (2007), p, 2, who are trying to work their way up the ladder with little to no help. In today’s society more than “28 million people” Conlin, M., & Bemstein, A, (2007), p, 2, which is about a quarter of the workforce between the ages of “18 and 64, earn less than $9.04 an hour” Conlin, M., & Bemstein,A. (2007), p, 2. This is well below what most American’s would consider a decent stander of living. The increase in the cost of living means parents earning the national minimum wage struggle to support families. Raising the rent for apartment and houses are

With my parents both in the Fishing industry and claiming EI benefits during the winter months I know that it can be hard sometimes when it comes to shortage of money. Though we never went below the poverty line and me and my siblings always received things we wanted, to a certain extent, we knew what it was like to be tight for money as did many other families.

I am the first generation of my family members that has been raised at and attended school in the United States. My siblings were raised and educated in Mexico later transitioning to the U.S. when I was 4. My family from a young age to now has only been made up of my mom, two sisters, nephews, and niece slowly growing as time passes.

“Papa, no te vayas!” (Daddy, don’t go!) Those were the words that I said with tears streaming down my face every time my dad left our home in Mexico to return to California. I recall this fractured family existence, this inevitable sacrifice of separation in order to survive for seven long years, until my parents decided that it was time to reunite in the United States and finally become a stable family. While the United States was a new setting for my family, it was not a new place for me as it was my birth country. Yet, I remember feeling harassed and excluded, common emotions among immigrants to the U.S. and this new emotion created a fear I was unaccustomed to; I felt scared of this new lifestyle and of the limited possibilities.

The battles of a young lady fitting into a new life, another world. An adventure meeting new companions, encountering another culture, and training. Blerina Aliu came to America from Kosovo. Just like Christopher Columbus, she came to a new world. Blerina Aliu, a student from James River High School, talks about her time in Kosovo. Kosovo is a state in Southeast Europe. In 2013, she moved to the U.S. with her family. “What was life in Kosovo?” “The food is cheap and wonderful. Everyone is friendly, and wherever individuals welcome you and ask how you are or attempt to help you in case you're a visitor.” “How was school life?” “I lived in a village where I farmed. My school was in another village, and my nation doesn’t have a school transport, so I

In 2014, I, following my mother, moved to US as an immigrant. Everything was different. San Jose is the first place that I live since I came to the US. It is a crowded city, with the population is about one million. I was stunned by the traffic systems, amazed by those crowded avenues. The typical weather is dry, hot and windy. I love seeing the grasses, on the fields, or up to the mountain, wither into brown in the summer and become green after those rainy days. I love walking along on the side-walk, and watching the Acer Rubrum's red leaves falling from their branches in an Autumn evening. I suddenly realized that I loved this place as more as Duy Xuyen, even though it was pretty tough on me

After suffering through a ninety hour work week I receive my meager paycheck. A paycheck that is barely enough to buy bread for two people, much less for an entire family. Because of this my three young sons of thirteen, eleven, and nine must work in the local textile factory if they want to eat for the

As I got older, the question of what was the cause of the situation at home became frequent. The answer to the question became vivid later after high school. The first job after high school provided a response why my parents were struggling so much. The low minimum wage that is so discouraging. The minimum wage was not sufficient to support the bill for our family despite majority of the family members having the minimum wage. I got worried about many families whose member could not secure a job with a minimum salary. To unfold the truth on the matter, I embarked on a research with the internet that has proved to be my best tool in carrying out research.

After completing this project, it has become clear to me that our economic system is not fair and that hard work does not necessarily mean you will make any money. After watching the video that showed wealth distribution in America, I realized the monopoly the top 1% has on wealth and that no matter how hard the bottom 10% tries, they are unlikely to rise substantially in economic class. Our fictional family fell somewhere in the middle percents, meaning that at $2,700 a month, they doing better than a lot of Americans. Putting in 60 hour weeks, the mom would likely likely work harder and longer than those in the top 10% but only make a fraction of what they do. That doesn’t seem fair. The only way this inequality is going to be fixed is take away the power the wealthy has in economic decisions. We have to remove the cap to create more money for the poor and we have to stop allowing the rich to pass policies that make them richer. We need to recognize the economic inequality in our country and actively work towards solving it to help the lower-class families like the one in our scenario live more comfortable