Day 2 Immigrant. That word gives me a label here. I am crossing the border to the U.S because my parents think it will give us a new beginning and a better life. I think they’re wrong. Our life in El Salvador was fine: We had a nice house and we were healthy.
Upon meeting me, not many people know that I am a first generation American. However, they are usually interested in the orgin of my last name. I am in fact Ukranian. Both my parents and my older sister were born in Ukraine. They immigrated to America in 1992 because of religious persecution that they were facing.
What does it mean to be an American today? Or rather, what does being an American entail? Does that pertain to a certain individual’s perspective? Or is Americanism defined through a collective consciousness projected around the world? Over the course of time, Americans have gone through various embodiments of who they are, without loosing the essence of what they represent.
The American experience is not unfamiliar to me, I have been visiting America since I was a child and as a child I always wanted to move to America. My first visit here I fell in love with the culture specifically the freedom of expression. However the opportunity did not emerge for me to move to America legitimately and as promising young child, I did not want to damage my future by moving to a country illegally where I could not live to my full potential. I stayed in Jamaica and I completed my University education as a registered nurse and had become comfortable with my life in Jamaica. I started working the spring of 2013 and upon receival of my first paycheck, I was reminded that this is not the place I wanted to be.
Are you a real American? I 'm not a real American by my standards. You can be a better American by helping all you see. I will try to do this from now on. I may not be strong or very bright
Its 1914 and I just got the news that we were finally going to America! We have been waiting for several years trying to save up money and figure everything out. Going to America is almost every ones dream here in Europe. Just like Oscar Hammerston said, “ You gotta have a dream.
My identity has always felt inextricably linked to what Miami is. A city that is teeming with immigrants, a city with dreams stacked and slopped atop each other, and a city that is living proof of the failed American dream. I say so because of my early observation that generation after generation of immigrants often seemed to stay trapped in dead end jobs; I saw this within my own family – within my grandmother, my aunts and uncles, and even my cousins. Here it was even within my own family tree the deep implicit message that there was no way out of our socioeconomic level. When I made it into an Ivy League college, it was a message that was slowly re-enforced by the fact that my demographic was the most represented in the custodial staff rather than within my own classmates.
I used to have this grudges in my heart when everything go hard that would made me wanted to blame my parent. But I can’t because I was not raise to think that way. When I come to America, I was eleven years old and no one asked me if I wanted to come it just happen in a second. I was in a cold place with extended family that I never met before and that one person who raise me and made me feel secure was still back in the country. I had to lived months without her and next thing you know I adapted and convince myself they are doing this because the wanted the best for me.
Freedom (liberty) is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without resistance. Freedom is America's honor, and honor comes with obligations and we have the obligation to use our freedom wisely. We can accept or reject the obligations, but we must choose well. I'm a patriot for country because of the freedoms that I have. One way we have our freedom is because of the Declaration of Independence and first ten Amendments of the Constitution or The Bill of Rights.
I cringe at the smell of alcohol floating around the apartment. A cold shiver simmers down my spine as I hear footsteps making their way to my room. 3 loud, hard knocks bang on the door. I open the door waiting for it. Waiting for the rock solid slap that pierces my face everyday leaving bruises and black eyes the size of tennis balls.
I woke up suddenly; I felt as if I really was at the mercy of howling gale and waves of surf and storm. My face was wet from sweat as if I was splashed by hundreds upon hundreds of gallons of water. I was dizzy and my head was in extreme pain as my bed felt like a rocking boat. I could have sworn I was hearing waves and I could have sworn that there was a distinctive aroma of salt water filling my room. However, as I pulled my head up from the comfort of my pillow, there was nothing.
As an American, I enjoy many freedoms that people from other countries don’t. That may not seem fair, and it really isn’t, but I am grateful that I have these freedoms. I have the freedom of life. I don’t have to worry every day that I am going to die. I don’t live in a place where I am under attack.
When I was fourteen, my parents told me that we are moving to the USA for my bright future. We were sponsored by my aunt and uncle in this new world. Education in India, especially with a dream of becoming a Doctor, is expensive. My parents want me to be a successful doctor, but financial crisis was our barrier. I came to America in the search of opportunities and a successful future.
Citizenship is the link that pulls together every American citizen. A citizen is a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owns legions to its government and is entitled to his protection. Citizens are like the blocks from the game Jenga each working to make a structure stable. Of citizens of America we all have an obligation to uphold our duties. When we all work together as citizens we help to join the country and make it home as citizens if we do not uphold our obligations and duties America will fall apart period like in jingle if too many blocks are missing the tower becomes unstable and has the possibility of collapsing.
The world is filled with people, and like snowflakes, each person is not the same as another. Each person identifies with different aspects of their lives to create their own personal identities. I personally identify with my Italian side of my family to help form who I am today. I have found myself connecting with this side more so than the other parts of my identity. It affects how I live my life by becoming the center to the culture surrounding me.