Personal Narrative: Under The Wire

One’s commitment of immigrating to a new country for a better life indicates that oneself is ready to risk the life given to them by facing many hardships along the way. In the novel Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, Enrique does exactly that, risking his own life at the age of seventeen in order to reunite with his mother who left him when he was five in order to obtain a better job in the US and give Enrique and his older sister everything she thought they deserved. Nazario utilizes an emotional appeal and metaphors to inform readers of the arduous situations migrants experience on their long and tiring journey in search of a family member and a better future.

It is true in life that everything happens for a reason. It is also true to say that sometimes it is all about being in the right place, at the right time. There was never a more prominent example of this than a traumatic summers evening, only a few years ago.

This story revolves around an undocumented family with the hopes that they will be able to live the "American Dream." The second oldest child, Francisco, otherwise known as Panchito who is also our narrator, is the main character of the novel. Panchito exposes a flurry of emotions with his roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, expectations and disappointments. He and his family expressed hope from the start of the story, dreaming of how life would be considerably better once they reached California, somewhere they thought to be a place where they could escape impoverishment. Panchito is shown as a very hopeful character; in fact, there are many times where he hopes for something to the point where he convinces himself it will happen, resulting in the numerous occasions of disappointment and discouragement. Yet, even with the frequent occurrence of disheartenment, Francisco pulls himself back up and perseveres. The author depicts Panchito as a determined character who always manages to push through rough times despite the circumstances around him telling him that he can't.

It was a wonderful eye-opening experience to interview Carmen Anton, a Spanish immigrant for this project. I learned so many things about how she arrived in American as a small child with only her sister by her side and her strive to become American. The emotional struggles of Carmen and her sister, Elena, were real and I didn’t realize it was that emotionally draining to come to a new country. Her experience showed me how hard it is to fit into a new society knowing absolutely nothing about the world she was dropped into. The fact that she flew here with her younger sister and then live for three months without her parents to guide her in this unfamiliar setting, shows me how strong and brave Carmen was at the young age of eight. When she first came, she assumed it would be like

“If you move, I’ll kill you. I’ll break you in two” (Nazario 87). Enrique’s Journey, a nonfiction book by Sonia Nazario, painstakingly follows the trek of a young teenage boy’s treacherous journey to the United States from Honduras. At the tender age of five, a horrified and confused Enrique watched his mother Lourdes walk away from him and onto El Norte, The North. Eleven years later Sonia Nazario, a project reporter for the Los Angeles Times, traces each bitter step of Enrique’s gruesome and long expedition to reunite with his estranged mother. A novel for the ages, Enrique 's Journey allows for insight into the plight of millions of individuals that cross the border illegally due to life circumstances. This fast paced novel and this critical analysis paper depict and explain a problematic and undeniable issue polarizing the Western world: illegal immigration.

My mother’s journey began in her hometown, Mexicali. She had heard that there were reliable coyotes who could get you to the US through “La Tierre de Nadie” (No Man’s Land). My mother spent the first few months of her pregnancy working any jobs she could find. Even as her belly grew larger and her feet got more bloated, she spent every hour of her day working. Her whole existence was devoted to escaping poverty. My mother was terrified that her due date would arrive before she was able to reach the States. She walked alongside the wall everyday on her way home, dreaming of the life she would make for her daughter. Finally, my mother had saved enough money to pay the coyote and traveled to Tijuana to find one to hire.

In Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey, readers are able to view the undeserved hardships migrants, such as Enrique, undergo, all in search of one thing, freedom. Enrique is a 17 year old Honduran boy, whom was left lonesome when his mother decided to take on a dreadful journey to better her family. After many years without his mom, Enrique goes on a perilous mission in order to reunite with his mother, Lourdes. This expedition involved extremely challenging and life threatening missions, which many migrants face daily. Once they arrive to the United States they realize that leaving their culture and families behind was all for a hostile country in which survival is not definite. Little did they know that living in the U.S would not be stable

Luis Flores Romero was just eight years old when he embarked on a journey that would change his life for the better. He was born in Mexico with his family. His family consisted of his sister who had dark hair and was tan, as well as the father who had a mustache no one would question and the mother who looked like the daughter. When Luis’s family decided to go on this journey the emotions of the father and mother became weary, due to the fact that the town where they had lived all their life would soon be gone as well as other family and friends who would be remembered. But they knew it was worth it because they heard of a better life so they continued.

Interviewer: Today, I am interviewing Gloria Anzaldua on her book, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Gloria’s book is inspired by her memories of living on the U.S.-Mexico border as a Mexican-American. The book combines Gloria’s own writing along with works from other creative minds to express her ideas on the U.S.-Mexico border and how that border affects the lives of Mexican-Americans. I will specifically question her on the ways she thinks the border shapes the cultural development of the people living around it. Let’s begin.

Sitting in the back of the car with my younger brother and sister memories started coming back. I could hear the water from the river in mexico in my head. The voice of my cousin yelling and the laughter of my uncle. The crying of my baby cousin and the sound of cooking food. Then the funny feeling came back. I missed mexico, the air was fresh, the water was clear and the weather was nice. The shining sun reflecting off the water and the warm fresh air running across the flesh of people's bodies . The

As I looked out the window and saw barren dirt roads, no overflowing shopping centers or even a Wal-Mart, I began to question where my parents had brought me. We were in Presidio, TX, a small town on the border of the United States and Ojinaga, Mexico. I questioned how my grandparents, or even my dad could have lived in such an underdeveloped town for years. The visits to Presidio became somewhat constant and rather than staying weekends, I stayed months. I developed an appreciation for the town and I could now communicate with the community shouting “Buenos Dias!” to everyone I ran into on our morning walks to the local market. During one of my prolong stays my five year old sister developed a urinary tract infection. The infection could have

The moral of this story is that so many families and children cross the border and risk their life for a better future here in the United States. To have better jobs, better education for their children. These families left everything to come to the U.S despite owning their home and having good jobs back home, but they wanted a better future here in the U.S. for their love ones. Alma Rivera leaving her house so her daughter can have better education, Arturo Rivera leaving his construction cite that he mange to come to the U.S and work even hard for his daughter who is disable and have better education, Celia Toro leaving her country because it was going through a tough time and coming to Delaware with spouse and two children, and now being

How much are you willing to sacrifice for another life? When it came down to my parents they had to sacrifice everything. Moving from Albania to America was one of the hardest obstacles they faced, but it was one of the greatest gift that our family ever got. When I was a little girl I dreamed of coming to America. Most of my cousins lived here and I always heard of the opportunities and success I could have. Every time my cousins would come to Albania they would tell me all these stories. When they left I always wished to go with them, but I was always told I couldn't go and I never understood why. My parents would tell me that I didn't have papers. On day my dad secretly went out and played the lottery. In America, the lottery is the opportunity to winning millions of dollars. In other countries, winning the lottery is life changing.It's being able to come to America, a place I always imagined being magical. My dad always tells me, you will never lose anything by trying something new. You will either win or learn. If it wasn't for him applying for the lottery, I would have a very different story to tell, (try to talk about how my life is changing, in what access you have in albanian and what the lottery has been life changing

Every time I visit my family in Mexico, I bring back memories that will stay with me forever. The memories I made this summer will stay with me, but unlike most other memories, I wouldn’t mind forgetting this one.

The doubts I had turned out to just be thoughts in my head. This warm, sunny morning I could feel my heart beating through my chest. My hand was shaking as I opened the door of my mom’s car. I felt like time was going by slow and I wanted everything to be over. I arrived and it didn’t seem much like a school. A building with not many windows, doors, and no kind of sign it was a school. A gray striped building that kind of looked like a warehouse. The parking lot was massive; it was big compared to the school. As I walked in through the main entrance, I felt this was already a miserable start to the worst school year in my life. I got to my class and sat down. I felt people’s eyes staring at me strangely. The situation already felt awkward