ANCA was working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, such as The United Nation, to help Armenian families leave all communist countries around the world to get freedom, destining America. In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14, which declares, "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution." I was sad that I was leaving the place where I was born, but inside in my heart I was feeling happy for the new life that I will face soon. Finally we received our visas to leave the country. In order to reach our destination which was the United States, we had to stop in the city of Beirut, Lebanon as a refugee in 1968 and then we flew to our final destination which was New York in December, 1969.…
I came to the United States from Colombia when I was just 3 years old. I was brought into the country of bright opportunities because like every other parent, my mother and father wanted what was best for me. My mother had to give up her dream job in Colombia, which was being an accountant for an essentially important company, in order to facilitate my well-being and open up the doors for my future. As the years progressed, I began to acquire both languages, English and Spanish, but there was a point where I became tongue tied and had to assist in speech therapy. My parents would talk to me in Spanish at home but in school all I would hear was English, my mind was extremely confused to the point that I made my own language by using both tongues in one sentence.…
I am Mexican in the 21st century. Many who just look at me couldn’t tell you so. Being Mexican is a part of me cast aside by others, as if my culture, my very essence, is a pebble among stones.…
At the age of two my parents made the long and devastating journey to bring me and my siblings to the United States from Mexico. They sought for a brighter and better future for us and fought tooth and nail to give us the world they didn’t have growing up. Ever since I had stepped foot on U.S soil I never had the chance to go back. The sacrifices that permitted me to be able to attend school for free and giving me a better head start than I would’ve had if we’d stayed couldn’t mask the effects of the move. I didn’t grow up being enriched by the colorful culture that Mexico has, I missed out on the opportunity to share moments with my family from abroad, and fought the struggle of trying to blend in, in an environment that was so different…
The year I turned six, my mom decided to migrate to Mexico. However, she was not able bring my one year old sister along. While my little sister stayed with my grandparents, my mom and I flied out to Mexico. I still remember the feeling in my stomach the moment I stepped out of that airport. I was an ocean away from my hometown. My first day of school was chaos. Everyone in the school was speaking in Spanish. I did not understand the customs and mannerisms. It was difficult to not feel as an outcast. The most complicated part was expressing my feelings, and my needs to the teachers. I lived in Mexico, Tijuana for six years, after becoming adapted to the environment, my mom came home one day and told me that we are moving to the United States.…
The place I grew up in could be considered above average. I had my friends that I would see every day and my family back at home. However, everything that any of us did would be over the top in every way possible. This became especially evident when my family and I would begin to plan a party or travel, this improvement of activities would be known as the “Mexican Way”. To be more specific, my family and I turned a normal New Year’s Eve party into a colorful and explosive fiesta. At first it seemed normal, we bought all the fireworks, started getting all the food ready for the party, and all my cousins and uncles started to arrive at my house; but as soon as it got dark everything started to get out of hand. As the first bottle rockets went…
Let me start off with my mother's journey to America. It was 1985 when her parents decided it was time for a fresh start. It was very difficult to come to America legally, so they made their journey by traveling to other countries. They left Cuba and traveled to Spain where my grandfather found a job as a farmer. They lived in Spain for almost 2 years before they gathered enough resources to travel to Mexico. The journey from Mexico to the USA was very easy for them because they had a family member who knew their way around. They struggled for many years in America but soon became legal citizens. My mother later on went to college and completed her bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Miami. My grandparents purchased the…
Leaving your country is always a difficult decision, and whoever has experienced it understands the sacrifice it entails. When I left Poland at 18, I thought I was going to be in paradise, but to my disappointment it was far from that. I had to learn a new language and work hard to provide for myself. What kept me motivated was the hope for a better future and an independent life.…
Life is a box of surprises. You never know what is going to happen or where you are going to end up. Everything can change in seconds just like when a tornado destroys a city in the blink of an eye. I was a lovely and happy girl living in my native country. I never thought that someday I would accomplish my dreams in another country. Due to economic situations, my family moved to the U.S. It is hard to live in a country where you were not born. Learning the culture, language and lifestyle were some of the struggles that I had I had to face when I first came to the United States.…
America, land of the free and home of the brave, a country strengthened with rights, equality, and justice. For Americans it’s just a regular country, with regular rules and laws, nothing special about it. Although, to immigrants it’s a country to reinterpret their lives, a better life, a life where they’re free to pursue their happiness and follow their dreams. Even though America is a great country, adjusting to a new culture isn’t easy. It took patience, support, understanding, and passion in order for me to balance two different cultures.…
Have you ever imagined that one day you had to live in a new country? You are surrounded by new people. You have to communicate to others by a new language. You have to do a bunch of things that you have never done before. How would you feel at that time? That was my story of the first days I lived in America. To me, those days were the most difficult time in my life up to now. Sometime, I even felt very stressful because of struggling with my new life. However, I did learn of lot from that. Now, I am going to tell you how I experienced the stressful time and some useful ways that I did to reduce my stress.…
One day nearly two years ago, I came back from the worst trip and experience ever in my life. Three years ago, my family made the biggest decision of our lifetime together and we had decided to move. Now the fact that we were moving didn’t bother me or my little sister, it was just the simple fact that we were moving from our home that we had grown up in our entire life. The only problem was the fact that we had eventually found out that we were going to move to Oregon. This Alabama home that we grew up in was very special to me and my sister but it wasn’t the one of best of places. We had lived right beside our grandparents and we loved to go up the hill and see them and us moving had rendered that possibility from happening any longer.…
One time my family and I we were moving to New Mexico in the way I was looking how my new house was going to be and my new friends.When we were going we saw my uncle and he said, “Let go to there new house”.Then my dad said,“Where is the house”,Then my uncle said,…
My heritage, my culture, where I’m from is something I shall never be ashamed of. Lucky to say, I have hard-working Mexican parents who are my motivators for everything, they are the reason I hope to one day be a first-generation college graduate. When my parents had my oldest brother at 17, despite their young age, my parents were thinking of my brother’s future. Mexico has high crime rates, drug trafficking, unemployment, poverty, and climate hazards. Families come to the United States to achieve the American Dream, the chance to give their children the life they wouldn't have been able to have in their native country. Something that I would say I’m passionate about is the love I have for my culture and my roots. Being Mexican American has molded me into the person I am today with strong beliefs and values. Over the past few months, I have heard distasteful comments towards the Latino community. Growing up my parents taught me to speak for what I believe in. I am not a bystander, I will speak and defend those who being belittled for not being U.S. born. Throughout my four years…
Growing up I excelled in every educational aspect of school. However the stereotype for someone of my skin color did not allow for me to be both Mexican and smart. My Hispanic peers began to exclude me; the most common way they did that was by taking away my identity as a Mexican. I heard “Diego you white” an uncountable number of times throughout my schooling. I noticed that my grades and vocabulary would trigger that comment so I began to change the way I acted in order to fit in. It was not until recently that I realized the fault in changing and found a peaceful merge between the two speech communities.…