The people that has have influenced me the most are my parents. My parents are always there for me through thick and thin. They have taught me right from wrong and have guided me the right way throughout life. They have influenced me so much. Because of them I am a responsible young adult. I take responsibility for my own actions. They have taught me to care for others. There is a saying they used to always tell me. “Do to others as you would have them to do to you.” This saying is from the bible in chapter Luke 6:31. My parents have also greatly influenced my religious and political views, but I will not go into that. My parents also taught me to treat others equally because everyone has feelings and we are all the same on this inside. I don’t make fun of people or judge them by the way they look or how they act. They have also told me what not to do in life. For example, don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t do anything illegal. These things can most of time ruin your life. I am so glad they told and taught me about these things at a young age because if they didn’t I might not…
Sixty two years ago, my Grandfather found himself in a whole with his life. He was living in Genova, Italy with about one hundred dollars to his name. He had just gotten married to my Grandma, and was still living in his mother’s house at the time. He had no job, which means no money was coming in. Getting a job at this time was nearly impossible. Knowing that he had so much more potential, at such a young age, he decided to pack up and leave everything with his wife to start a new life in America. My Grandfather and Grandmother spent days and days on a boat to get to the land of opportunities. Once they arrived they got exactly what they were looking for. Opportunities. In order to support his new wife, my Grandfather worked all day everyday.…
I am just your average teenager from Paterson New Jersey trying to make a better living for my family. Growing up in Paterson, I experienced things I should not have experienced, from deaths, drug dealing, to gang violence in my neighborhood. I come from a very big family where college was optional. But for me, I made sure to make it a priority. I come from your typical Dominican family. My parents migrated to this country in 1993 with nothing to their name. Two years later I was born. The sacrifices they made to provide a better living for me were enormous. I know the only way I can make them proud and paying them back is by being successful in my studies. It took the support of my family get here where I am right now in my life.…
My parents immigrated to the United States from El Salvador before I was born, leaving behind 5 kids, the youngest nine months and oldest thirteen years of age. Leaving behind their children was one of my parents’ hardest choice, but they believed that in the future it would have the best outcome. My parents had lived a dirt-poor life in El Salvador due to the Civil War that was going on the in the 1980s. They came to the U.S. in hopes of giving their children a better life, they put their all into their jobs until eventually they could bring my siblings to the United States for the better life every child deserves. Knowing this did nothing but show me that anything is possible if you work hard and strive for only the best.…
My dad was fifteen years when he did something I can never even imagine about doing; he crossed the border. He sacrificed so much in order to live a better life, without him I would not be writing this essay right now. My mother is a first generation Mexican-American, like myself, and also experienced the affects of her parents wanting more for their family. Fortunately for us, our family has strived in today’s society and would not be where we are without hardwork and dedication.…
I was four years old when my family immigrated to the United States from Ukraine. It was a crazy experience and a big life change for all of us. There were many obstacles to be faced living a life completely far away from what we used to call home. It was very difficult to leave my grandparents back in Ukraine. They were a significant source of encouragement for me especially my grandfather. He was my hero. He was the main nurturer who provided a lot of encouragement and support for me in the very hard times of my life. In times of crisis when life felt like a crashing wave, he was the one I always ran to for guidance. Like most immigrants, we didn’t know any English, therefore it was extremely hard to communicate with anyone.…
Foremost, I grew up with parents who moved from the Dominican Republic and never had a college education. The time and dedication they take to do their jobs is incredible. There are times where I don’t get to see my father for weeks being he’s too focused on his job. On one occasion my father had to work for almost 48 hours straight due to a broken machine in his workplace. When I did see him, he was completely exhausted he looked as if he were a walking corpse. Dark shade of purple under his eyes, dragging his feet across the floor. I never want to see my father as rough as he was again. I don’t think that’s the life anyone wants. It makes me want to go further than they have gone. Not only seeing, but actually experiencing what they go through opened my eyes on how far you can go…
I was born in the suburbs of the Bronx and raised in the Brooklyn, New York. At a young age, I never understood the amount of hard work my parents had gone through to raise me and give me a great life I have today. They emigrated from South Korea to this country in hopes of the American dream. They had their definition of the American dream as working hard to become successful. They were strong believers in that hard work would result in great results and rewards. My parents took huge sacrifices in order to make it to this great nation. They had left their families, their jobs, and their culture to start a new life. My father went from being a chemical engineer to making a small living as a delivery man for a clothing company while my mother worked as nurse in a small clinic in downtown Brooklyn. We didn’t live in the best of neighborhoods, but it was sufficient enough to provide shelter and food. It took a lot of pain and long hours for my parents to provide for me and they have taught me the most crucial life lessons. They told me that the most important lesson is life is to always put other people before you. They explained how if you are always there to help others and be there for another person, they will return the favor to you. This helped shaped my identity as to be a caring person who is always willing to help out those in need. Throughout the rest of my life, I would encounter this life lessons…
Immediately after reading this quote, all I could visualize was the discomfort and hard work my dad has consumed. Although he wasn’t born in America, the dedication he has accomplished to reach the American Dream has been a journey I have witnessed. Having been born in America was just a head start to my own journey. Working hard for a better future is something that has been ingrained in me by my immigrant father. As a young child, I witnessed my father’s tireless work ethic and drive to accomplish his goals of becoming a proud and productive American citizen. My favorite childhood memory was when he was granted his American citizenship, it was then I realized it does not matter who you are or where you come from. This quote does not only…
To understand more about the struggles of an immigrant and how they conquered their American Dream, I decided to interview my grandfather. His story is very interesting and is a perfect example of the life of an immigrant. My grandfather is a 79 year old man who is from a province in Potenza, Italy. He has three siblings, five children, and fifteen grandchildren. My grandpa is an extremely religious Roman Catholic man who attends church every Sunday and always prays throughout the day. With very little formal education my grandfather was still able to be successful and provide for his family.…
However, it was a rough start for my great-grandfather. The language barrier was a major obstacle and job options for foreigners were very limited; the only job available to him was working at a laundromat. 10 years later, my great-grandmother joined him in the United States. Due to the difficulty of getting permission to come to the United States, and the fear of not being able to support them in the US, she was forced to leave her children behind in China; three daughters and one son. My great-grandmother was a very intelligent woman, and when she was finally able to contact her husband she settled in San Francisco, she was disappointed to discover him working such a low paying job. At her insistence, together, they decided to open a restaurant, and slowly their dreams of a new future began to emerge.…
One person that has had an impact today in my life is my dad. He has taught me right from wrong. He has taught me to be honest and respectful to anyone. He has told me about why we celebrate what we celebrate. That's why he has had an impact on who I am today.…
My father was raised in an economically stricken home with three step mothers, four brothers and three sisters; all who managed to not only complete high school, but also go on to college. He was a member of a hardworking Nigerian family from osun state who took pride in what they did. My father passed this on to me. On my mother’s side, my grandfather was a farmer. He managed to provide for his family through endless hours of farming, he is a good example of how hard work pays off because with the money he gathered from his farm, he was able to build a big house in the city and he has also granted me life lessons, among them the ability to push past a struggle, to find fairness and justice in an unjust world and to become a stronger person for myself and those around me. This has helped me to see life differently, and to always believe that with hard work, I can achieve more than I ever imagined.…
He grew up extremely underprivileged, or so it would seem to this generation. He never owned anything that was given to him freely and I believe this fact alone shaped him into an unexplainably hard worker. He worked for everything he ever had and kept a positive attitude about it in that. To achieve the opportunities and dreams he desired he knew this, working from daylight to dawn and sacrificing things we could not imagine, was the only way he could do so. This characteristic alone is enough to leave me feeling speechless and guilty. However, this is not what amazes me about my grandfather. One day a few years ago on a scorching summer afternoon I was able to visit my “Papaw” just as he was finishing a carpentry project he had been working on for many months. Just as I sat down next to him on a bench he had crafted, my grandmother brought us out two glasses of lemonade. Admiring his work I sat silently, unable to imagine the hours he spent working on this project of his. Taking a sip of his lemonade my grandfather made a comment I will never forget. “I am living the American Dream, you know it A?” I had always had the notion that the American Dream was a white picket fence, two story home with 2.5 children and a groomed Labrador Retriever playing on the front lawn. My grandfather is not exceedingly…
Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.…