Reflection Paper On Immmersion Experience

I never in my life did expect one day to write an essay for the Spanish Travel Scholarship and to write it in English! Fifteen year ago I was a typical Italian architecture student who, beyond doubt, had not yet established her role in the local, national, and global community, or her purpose in life. I spent my college years making my parents proud, and fulfilling teachers’ expectations. Nevertheless architecture wasn’t my college decision. It was my dad’s dream. When I was six years of age, he lost his engineering firm because of a stroke. He reinvented himself various times, after the stroke, but he has never been able to rebuild his engineering firm from the ashes. My architecture degree was his last opportunity to reopen his beloved

When I was deliberating topics for my case study ethnography report I was inspired to examine some one very close to me who is "undocumented", someone whose experience I have seen first hand, some one who has affected my life and understanding of immigrants with his situation; my partner, Mario. This class has exposed us to many writings on the subjects of migration, immigration and emigration. I began to compare the concepts and information in the readings to Mario’s personal situation. I was curious if his answer would be "In search of a better life" when asked, "Why did you come here?"

People respond differently- parents respond differently than children 3. Without affiliating oneself with an ethnic group makes acquiring economic success difficult because that group's money is lost.

A sudden change in one’s surroundings can result in culture shock. Culture shock refers to the anxiety and surprise a person feels when he or she is discontented with an unfamiliar setting. The majority of practices or customs are different from what a person is used to. One may experience withdrawal, homesickness, or a desire for old friends. For example, when a person goes to live in a different place with unfamiliar surroundings, they may experience culture shock. Sometimes it is the result of losing their identity. In the article “The Phases of Culture Shock”, Pamela J. Brink and Judith Saunders describe four phases of culture shock. They are: Honeymoon Phase, Disenchantment Phase, Beginning Resolution Phase, and Effective

When moving to a new place, the first thoughts that comes to mind, "Moving to a different school? Meeting new people?" The terrifying thoughts coursed through my mind causing me to freeze in cold sweat thinking of all the horrible things to come with this new chapter of my life. Regardless, I am a fearless adventurer ready to take one a whole new exciting journey to exotic places, experiencing new cultures, meeting different people.

It was such a joy to be able to watch ‘An Immigrant Journey’. Everyone that was involved in the play in any way, did a fantastic job on creating the story and making the story much more believable for audience members. I thought the cast did a fantastic job of condensing down over 125 hours of research material, into a 50-minute show, which had to be incredibly challenging.

It can be very challenging to move away from the country you grew up in. Recalling all those moments of laughter, excitement, and adventure can only make one more and more depressed. I was born in Port-Au -Prince, which is the capital of Haiti and raised in Gonaives. I spend most of my early childhood in Haiti. I only knew my native language, food, music, and history. I was only familiar with my native holidays and celebration. Therefore, the day my mother came to me and told me I had been awarded my resident card, and we had to move to America. My life changed forever.

Having the opportunity to have worked with diverse students has opened my eyes to the importance of learning about different cultures, their beliefs and practices. Being aware and learning about the different cultures my students came from helped me from misinterpreting certain behavior displayed by the students. In order to do this the first thing a teacher should learn is that everyone has different ways of culturally adapting to a new country, while some are able to fully assimilate, others undergo the process of selective acculturation or embrace enculturation (Coleman, 2013).

One way that immigration affects the human experience is by impacting people physically. My interviewee witnessed immigrants being affected physically in her journey. Although her journey wasn’t that hard she said that “some women would be raped” during her journey (Zuñiga). She also said she “was afraid of being killed” because of the threats they received from other migrants and “some people were shot” if they didn’t give up their money or belongings (Zuñiga). Immigration can be dangerous because it affects you physically and scars you forever. In the book Enrique’s Journey he explains his experience with immigration and describes how other migrants were affected physically because of immigration. A quote that showed physical effects by immigration is “... severe internal hemorrhaging and long scratch marks on their buttocks, some get pregnant” (Nazario 77). This shows how women are affected physically because some are raped during the journey and are left with physical and emotional scars. These examples show how immigration affects people physically because both quotes show that women and men can get raped on their search for a better life. Not only are they affected physically but they are also affected emotionally and mentally because events like this affect how you see other people and the world.

During the last eleven years I have worked at the department of motor vehicles. I have met many people from different backgrounds and cultures. While I worked at the Tempe office, I came across many people from the Middle East, mainly Arabs and people from Pakistan and India. It was through my dealings with Middle East people that I notice how friendly and accessible they are. It was then that an interest in finding more about this culture started. When I decided to visit a mosque as part this project I was not sure what to expect. My experience is divided in two, as I ended up visiting two different mosques. On Saturday January 24 around 12:45 pm I arrived at a mosque located in

During the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, many Chinese and Japanese people immigrated to the United States, specifically to the West Coast, under the belief that they would be not only be welcomed and accepted but that they would also be able to start fresh with their lives and become successful. However, once they arrived on the coast they experienced intense inhospitality, mistreatment, and great hardships. They felt that they were misled by the United States promoting friendship and welcoming arms and claiming that all American citizens and immigrants alike could achieve the great “American Dream” with a little work.

Studying abroad will provide me the unique experience of learning a language from the perspective of one of the many cultures that employs it. Nuances that are difficult to convey in a classroom will, hopefully, come to my attention naturally. We see similar methods of immersion learning everywhere. For example, if one wants to develop a rudimentary level of understanding of the culture surrounding a type of music, they can start by looking up the music and listening to

According to the article, the sanctuary cities, officials declared to act against mass deportations in a bulwark manner, even at losing the federal finances for local services. The situation has happened in New York where there is a large population of the Latinos. The leaders have pledged not to cooperate with immigration agents saying that the city will always be a sanctuary city. The essay is a summary of the article with views regarding the states and the cities trying to help illegal migrants in case they are faced with deportation.

Social/interpersonal stressors are characterized as the challenges associated with having to recreate family and social support, changing gender and family roles, and intergenerational conflicts between children and parents (Arbona et al, 2010).

There are many reasons why my family decided to leave their homes in Italy and make the move to America. There were many political and religious issues, along with towns and homes being overcrowded. My family were farmers looking for a change and the unification was rural along with the land management was poor. As my family did not have a lot of cash, we could only afford to buy tickets in the cargo area of the ship. The food was horrible as we were sailing to the new land. We ate a lot of potatoes, soup, and left overs. It was food to comfort us but not what I really wanted to eat.