The First Journey to a New Beginning

Many people have come to America for adventure, opportunity, freedom, and the chance to experience the particular qualities of the American landscape. The American Dream is the idea that every United States citizen, including immigrants and residents, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. America somewhat provides access to the American dream, it is more so the citizen who provides access to the dream for themselves. Even though they encountered many trials and tribulations, with persistence, people such as Langston Hughes in “I Too Sing America and Anzia Yezierska in “America and I” they were able to achieve their individual American Dream.

You know those days where everything just seems to be going wrong or you never think things will get better? When you are late for work, spill coffee down the front of your shirt, and realize you accidentally wore two different shoes? Or how about when you thought you were in love, and you got your heart broken into a million pieces and it felt like you would never be okay again? What about when you had to say goodbye to your best friends when you left for college? I believe in a new beginnings.

Those who traveled to America for their new lives were outcasts, unwanted and unneeded by the countries they come from. Yet America will receive the best years of their lives. By providing them a place in which hard work is appreciated and necessary for success, those

The day was finally here. It was November 11, 1990, the day that our family was to go to ¡®Land Of Liberty.¡¯ I heard so many different things about this country called United States of America and I was warned that it would be nothing you¡¯ve expected. The plane ride did not seem as long as it was; partly because I was lost in my own thoughts with hopes and anxiety. I thought about what I will become in this massive country I was headed and how soon I will adapt to this new culture and people.

Life is unpredictable and no one could gifted with a foresight. I still remember that day when I boarded the plane, from China to America, up to eighteen hours of travel. When I step on the land of America, my life instantly changed. The exaggerated graffiti on the wall with a twisted smile looks like the one who is saying “Hi.” to me. When I go in to my “home”,mice and cockroaches are all around. The teen who stand near the door says, “Welcome to America.”

The home of the brave and land of the free was the perfect sounding place to many immigrants from different places. They came to America because they wanted to escape their poverty, government, war or previous life to achieve the american dream they hear about. The American Dream has changed the last few decades whether it was for good or for worse. Alex Tizon, Gary Soto and Sherman Alexie tells us about the dream that everyone used to seek out but will also tell show how much has changed from the past to the present.

I walked around unsteadily all day like a lost baby, far away from its pack. Surrounded by unfamiliar territory and uncomfortable weather, I tried to search for any signs of similarities with my previous country. I roamed around from place to place and moved along with the day, wanting to just get away and go back home. This was my first day in the United States of America.

Stepping out of my first plane ride, I experience an epiphany of new culture, which seems to me as a whole new world. Buzzing around my ears are conversations in an unfamiliar language that intrigues me. It then struck me that after twenty hours of a seemingly perpetual plane ride that I finally arrived in The United States of America, a country full of new opportunities. It was this moment that I realized how diverse and big this world is. This is the story of my new life in America.

I remember the day me and my family had left. It was one of the most emotional events of my life. I couldn’t believe I was going to become an American citizen. As we got closer and closer to the border, my heart pumped faster and faster. I felt like if I were in a dream, where as I was unstoppable. After the 10 hour drive to the border, we had arrived. I was a bit nervous at first. I kept thinking what if the customs didn’t let us go through, what if they

I was all packed and ready for the journey. I was very frightened, because I was leaving the only place I knew. My family was not coming with me and I missed them. I was riding a stinky old steamboat to America. I was not excited for the long journey to America. The food smelled bad and I was uncomfortable, but I was going to America so I tried to keep my thoughts on that. At least I was waking up to a better life in America.

On September 24, 2010, an airplane carried me to the ground of another country, to another dialect, new culture, new places, new habits, new challenges, new people and all in all, new life. I won't describe for you a lot about how hard it was to say farewell to all my relative and my friends, because I think you can picture yourself what would it feel like to leave everybody you know in your own country and move to America. When you leave your adolescence home — the place where you grew up, your local area or your country of residence or your homeland or anyway you feel to call it — you leave a piece of you behind. Before I came here in America, I thought that I would be in Hollywood, cozy house, bunches of tall structures, however to my mistake

On the big road was the car that would take us to Ho Chi Minh Airport. When I was in the car, I cried until we reach the airport. Because, I knew that I would not be able to step on this soil for many years to come. The time for us to get into the airplane came. This was my first time riding on this big machine; it was as huge as an island was my reaction. We sat in the airplane for about 2 days, and then at morning dawn, it reached American soil. My aunt said, “Look at the grass in America, it is green like the rice fields in Vietnam.” Then I took a look. The atmosphere was so peaceful and so natural. That’s what I liked about it. There was a thought that came to me, “We are in the America now, but I still miss

As the young, female protagonist in “America and I” took her first steps toward a life in the United States, her head was already overflowing with preconceived notions of what that life would look like. Tommy Hilfiger once said, “the road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it's possible to achieve the American dream.” His words practically provide a definition for what most people expected an American life to be. You get a job, you work hard, you buy a house, you have kids; achieving the American dream was equivalent to a fairytale with a happy ending. However, Anzia Yezierska reveals the roller coaster of incidents and hindrances that many immigrants face during their quest to find their happily ever

By all who immigrate to America, a number of promises are expected. Coming to the New World may be a long and frightening journey, especially for those who do not speak English or share American customs. Despite its chilling mask, however, America redeems itself by providing its citizens with a new life, freedom, peace, hope, guidance, welcoming, and unity, making the tedious route to American citizenship worthwhile.

I remember the first time I flew in an airplane. My eight-year-old self looked out the window of the terminal I was taking off from, astounded by the large size of the vehicle. Worried, I thought to myself how could something that big fly with so many people? Yet, as the plane took off my worries became excitement. Not only was this my first flight, this was the event that marked the start of my new life, my takeoff from Vietnam to America.