I’ve chosen to write about being an immigrant in this country. I picked this topic as it was the cause of experiencing things such as racism, learning a new language, and dealing with a whole new society and culture. In writing this essay, I hope that I analyze the actions and things I have done as an immigrant, and see if I could have done anything better. For others, I would like to inform, educate, and help them see things from my perspective, an immigrant’s perspective.

7 years ago, we moved to the United States. I was only 10 at the time. All we wished for is a better life. For my parents, it was the limitless opportunities they saw in the US. They wanted me and my younger sister to be in a safe country, with good education, and jobs. We had already imagined the struggle we could face moving to a new country, but it was so much worse.

We arrived in the United States. Everything was different; people, cars, streets, weather, and language. I remember my aunt and uncle taking us to a hotel. It had this weird smell that never went away even when I left the hotel. I opened the fridge and took a sip out of this weird looking can that had “Pepsi” written on it. It tasted so nasty to me. I asked my aunt if this was expired. She said, “no, but it has way more sugar than the Pepsi at home.” We knew that we had to adapt eventually. It was only until school started where things got bad for us. I was in a class surrounding by all these kids that were staring at me, saying stuff that I couldn’t understand, and whenever I tried to speak, they laughed. The country I came from, the food I ate, and the way I dressed were all good reasons to be harassed. That is when things got really hard.