My American Dream: Moving To The United States
American dream
We all have dreams of different kinds. To some people, the American Dream is having all that is available in this life. It means having a great job, a family and a secure future. To others the American Dream simply means having the opportunity to prove their abilities. My dream was to move to the United States, go to school and learn the English language. In this essay I will be talking about my life back in ., the steps I took in moving to United States, my struggles living in another country and my accomplishments
My name is .. I was born in .l, in a city called , a small but charming city with a lot of history. I love everything about that city. The sound of the birds in the morning when you awake, the beautiful parks …show more content…
where people typically meet to talk, go for walks or just to watch the sunset. The smell of fresh coffee and fresh bread right from the oven was wonderful. All the old buildings always fascinated me as well as it brought lots of tourists from all over the country.
I grew up with the same friends, same classmates. We were so close, they were my family. We all attended the same school, classes, took the same after school activities and even shared the same passion to learn English. I took many English courses and felt I had a good understanding. However, deep down inside I knew that the only way for me to be fluent in English would be to surround myself with English speaking people. That would mean that I would have to take the next step along with my parents and I moved to America. They had always talked about moving to the United States, therefore I could go to school and learn English, but they never had the opportunity.
In the winter of 2001 something happened that altered my life forever. My parents decided to apply for a visa to come to the United States and we were approved. I was so content. I remember being in my room and screaming from the top of my lungs, that I was going to America, that my dream was finally going to become true. I was going to learn English. No words could describe my happiness. I could not wait for the day to come, I was just really thrilled.
After all those joyful emotions It started to sink in that I would be leaving all my friends and family behind, everything that I cherished the most. At that moment I started crying, my head was spinning, I felt like I could not breathe. I laid in my bed just gazing at the ceiling. After a while I calmed down. I knew that this would be a great opportunity for me one in a lifetime. I worked really hard on not letting my emotions take over me.
The day was finally here, December 21, 2001. I will never forget that day. Writing and thinking about it, makes me cry. On the day of my departure everyone gathered at my house to say goodbye. Saying good bye to my family and friends was one of the hardest things that I had to do. Everyone was crying and holding me so tight which made it more difficult to leave. No one wanted to let go. I did not want to let go but unfortunately it was time to go and make the long drive to the airport. I remember being in the car and looking back at everyone and wondering if I would ever see them again.
Our twelve hour flight to Boston did not seem to be long, because I slept most of the way. Even though I was sad to leave my family, I was looking forward to all knew things I was going to learn and see. It was snowing in Boston when we arrived. I had never seen snow, it was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen in my life. Everything was so different from Brazil, so modern. The buildings, the houses, the highways, things that I had only seen in movies, were right in front of me. I just could not believe my eyes. I thought I was living a dream.
We departed Boston and drove to our new hometown, Lawrence. When we arrive at our new house my cousin was waiting for us. I was very excited to see a familiar face. He had been living in ...Massachusetts for five years and he offered to show us around the city. The house was really nice, it had three bedrooms, all with walk-in closets. When we approached the bathroom I noticed that we had a bathtub. I was really excited, because back in l, only the higher class citizens had bathtubs. The living room, kitchen, backyard and everything was really beautiful, all so different.
The next day, my cousin brought us to the supermarket. He showed us the way there and explained how to get back home. He couldn't stay and wait for us, because he had to go off to work. My mother had a shopping list, which did not help at all. All the food products were so different, we weren't quite sure what to purchase. It took us more or less of four hours to finish shopping, it was so exhausting. To top it all off when we were heading back home we weren't able to find our way back and we got lost. My mother started panicking we didn't know anyone and we had to ask for assistance, but who? Then my parents spotted a police officer and obviously since I was the only one who could remotely speak a couple of words in English they told me to go over and talk to Police officer. As I approached him, I felt so scared, my throat started closing up, and I felt my stomach tie in a knot. That is when the officer asked me "Can I help you?" and the only thing I could say was "I am lose". The officer seemed a little confused, so I showed him the paper with our address. I could tell on his face that he felt bad for me. He asked me a few questions and I didn't understand them. So with hand gestures he asked if I could follow him, and I said yes. He took us back home and at the end he said "Good Luck". At that point I knew that adjusting to a new life would be extremely hard.
A week had gone by and we were all settled in as far as food, furniture and a job for my parents.
Now that my parents had begun working it was time for me to begin my junior year in high school. I will never forget my first day of school, December 31.2001 when I attended Lawrence High School. The school had me take a placement test and the results showed that I would have to take an ESL (English as a second language) class. All those English lessons that I took back in Brazil had been a waste of my time. My advisor gave me a schedule with the list of courses I had to attend which the list itself seemed like a course I had to take in order to understand it all. My English wasn't sufficient enough to ask for assistance. No one talked to me that day. I felt left out because of my inability to communicate. Some students assumed that I did not understand them at all so, they made rude remarks about me. I understood them maybe not completely, but I knew the intent of their messages. That day I ate lunch by myself, in the bathroom, and I stayed there until my lunch period was over. I was without a friend in the world, like I was an alien who had just landed on planet Earth. That day really hit me on how much I missed Brazil. I thought to myself, 'I should be at home, with my friends talking and laughing.' As soon as I arrive home I went to bed and cried myself to sleep. The thought of going back to school the following day brought shivers down my spine. I didn't want to see tomorrow because I did not want to go back to
school.
I knew I had to go back to school especially if I wanted to succeed in the US. The following day with all the courage I had in me I went back to school. I was struggling with my grades which made me very depressed. I missed my friends, my family and I just wanted to go back home to talk freely in the language I felt more comfortable speaking "Portuguese". My parents often told me that they decided to move here because of the educational opportunities for me. If I wanted to succeed I would have to struggle and strive for success. What gave me more confidence was the amount of encouragement my parents gave me. Always telling me how proud they were and that they would do there best to support me.
As time went by I started to speak a few more words in English as well as made a small number of friends. I was at a point where I was actually starting to feel accepted. I was starting to feel un-alienated and didn't feel like a freak anymore. Over time my English improved and I was actually started to like the idea of attending school. I was doing my very best to embrace the American culture as my own. Thoughts of going back to Brazil were starting to fade away and my grades began to improve to a satisfactory level. This was extremely pleasing to my parents. They even started to encourage me to invite friends over. When my friends came over I became the translator between my parents and my friends. The rest of my school year went by smoothly, and my self-confidence grew to a higher level.
The following year I graduated from High School. It was June 6, 2003 this day was one of the most important days of my life. This day was so important to me because I had to work really hard to accomplish the goals I set for my self in learning a new language. The ceremony was held at the Tsongas Arena in l MA.
We all have dreams of different kinds. To some people, the American Dream is having all that is available in this life. It means having a great job, a family and a secure future. To others the American Dream simply means having the opportunity to prove their abilities. My dream was to move to the United States, go to school and learn the English language. In this essay I will be talking about my life back in ., the steps I took in moving to United States, my struggles living in another country and my accomplishments
My name is .. I was born in .l, in a city called , a small but charming city with a lot of history. I love everything about that city. The sound of the birds in the morning when you awake, the beautiful parks …show more content…
where people typically meet to talk, go for walks or just to watch the sunset. The smell of fresh coffee and fresh bread right from the oven was wonderful. All the old buildings always fascinated me as well as it brought lots of tourists from all over the country.
I grew up with the same friends, same classmates. We were so close, they were my family. We all attended the same school, classes, took the same after school activities and even shared the same passion to learn English. I took many English courses and felt I had a good understanding. However, deep down inside I knew that the only way for me to be fluent in English would be to surround myself with English speaking people. That would mean that I would have to take the next step along with my parents and I moved to America. They had always talked about moving to the United States, therefore I could go to school and learn English, but they never had the opportunity.
In the winter of 2001 something happened that altered my life forever. My parents decided to apply for a visa to come to the United States and we were approved. I was so content. I remember being in my room and screaming from the top of my lungs, that I was going to America, that my dream was finally going to become true. I was going to learn English. No words could describe my happiness. I could not wait for the day to come, I was just really thrilled.
After all those joyful emotions It started to sink in that I would be leaving all my friends and family behind, everything that I cherished the most. At that moment I started crying, my head was spinning, I felt like I could not breathe. I laid in my bed just gazing at the ceiling. After a while I calmed down. I knew that this would be a great opportunity for me one in a lifetime. I worked really hard on not letting my emotions take over me.
The day was finally here, December 21, 2001. I will never forget that day. Writing and thinking about it, makes me cry. On the day of my departure everyone gathered at my house to say goodbye. Saying good bye to my family and friends was one of the hardest things that I had to do. Everyone was crying and holding me so tight which made it more difficult to leave. No one wanted to let go. I did not want to let go but unfortunately it was time to go and make the long drive to the airport. I remember being in the car and looking back at everyone and wondering if I would ever see them again.
Our twelve hour flight to Boston did not seem to be long, because I slept most of the way. Even though I was sad to leave my family, I was looking forward to all knew things I was going to learn and see. It was snowing in Boston when we arrived. I had never seen snow, it was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen in my life. Everything was so different from Brazil, so modern. The buildings, the houses, the highways, things that I had only seen in movies, were right in front of me. I just could not believe my eyes. I thought I was living a dream.
We departed Boston and drove to our new hometown, Lawrence. When we arrive at our new house my cousin was waiting for us. I was very excited to see a familiar face. He had been living in ...Massachusetts for five years and he offered to show us around the city. The house was really nice, it had three bedrooms, all with walk-in closets. When we approached the bathroom I noticed that we had a bathtub. I was really excited, because back in l, only the higher class citizens had bathtubs. The living room, kitchen, backyard and everything was really beautiful, all so different.
The next day, my cousin brought us to the supermarket. He showed us the way there and explained how to get back home. He couldn't stay and wait for us, because he had to go off to work. My mother had a shopping list, which did not help at all. All the food products were so different, we weren't quite sure what to purchase. It took us more or less of four hours to finish shopping, it was so exhausting. To top it all off when we were heading back home we weren't able to find our way back and we got lost. My mother started panicking we didn't know anyone and we had to ask for assistance, but who? Then my parents spotted a police officer and obviously since I was the only one who could remotely speak a couple of words in English they told me to go over and talk to Police officer. As I approached him, I felt so scared, my throat started closing up, and I felt my stomach tie in a knot. That is when the officer asked me "Can I help you?" and the only thing I could say was "I am lose". The officer seemed a little confused, so I showed him the paper with our address. I could tell on his face that he felt bad for me. He asked me a few questions and I didn't understand them. So with hand gestures he asked if I could follow him, and I said yes. He took us back home and at the end he said "Good Luck". At that point I knew that adjusting to a new life would be extremely hard.
A week had gone by and we were all settled in as far as food, furniture and a job for my parents.
Now that my parents had begun working it was time for me to begin my junior year in high school. I will never forget my first day of school, December 31.2001 when I attended Lawrence High School. The school had me take a placement test and the results showed that I would have to take an ESL (English as a second language) class. All those English lessons that I took back in Brazil had been a waste of my time. My advisor gave me a schedule with the list of courses I had to attend which the list itself seemed like a course I had to take in order to understand it all. My English wasn't sufficient enough to ask for assistance. No one talked to me that day. I felt left out because of my inability to communicate. Some students assumed that I did not understand them at all so, they made rude remarks about me. I understood them maybe not completely, but I knew the intent of their messages. That day I ate lunch by myself, in the bathroom, and I stayed there until my lunch period was over. I was without a friend in the world, like I was an alien who had just landed on planet Earth. That day really hit me on how much I missed Brazil. I thought to myself, 'I should be at home, with my friends talking and laughing.' As soon as I arrive home I went to bed and cried myself to sleep. The thought of going back to school the following day brought shivers down my spine. I didn't want to see tomorrow because I did not want to go back to
school.
I knew I had to go back to school especially if I wanted to succeed in the US. The following day with all the courage I had in me I went back to school. I was struggling with my grades which made me very depressed. I missed my friends, my family and I just wanted to go back home to talk freely in the language I felt more comfortable speaking "Portuguese". My parents often told me that they decided to move here because of the educational opportunities for me. If I wanted to succeed I would have to struggle and strive for success. What gave me more confidence was the amount of encouragement my parents gave me. Always telling me how proud they were and that they would do there best to support me.
As time went by I started to speak a few more words in English as well as made a small number of friends. I was at a point where I was actually starting to feel accepted. I was starting to feel un-alienated and didn't feel like a freak anymore. Over time my English improved and I was actually started to like the idea of attending school. I was doing my very best to embrace the American culture as my own. Thoughts of going back to Brazil were starting to fade away and my grades began to improve to a satisfactory level. This was extremely pleasing to my parents. They even started to encourage me to invite friends over. When my friends came over I became the translator between my parents and my friends. The rest of my school year went by smoothly, and my self-confidence grew to a higher level.
The following year I graduated from High School. It was June 6, 2003 this day was one of the most important days of my life. This day was so important to me because I had to work really hard to accomplish the goals I set for my self in learning a new language. The ceremony was held at the Tsongas Arena in l MA.