How Being an Immigrant Shaped My Life

  

After reading “How Being an Immigrant Shaped My Life” by Sonia Pressman Fuentes, there was one part of it that really stood out and that I can relate to.

"The dictionary says that to immigrate is "to come into a new country, region or

environment, especially in order to settle there." The operative word for me in that definition

is new. To immigrate is to come to a new country and to have new experiences. And, like

everything worthwhile in life, to be an immigrant is both a blessing and a curse.

 It's a blessing because it's challenging and exciting to do something new, something

different, something everyone else isn't doing. It's a curse because it's scary to embark on any

new activity. So to be an immigrant is to be continually caught in the tension of the

excitement of being an outsider to a society, and the stigma of being different from those

around you. To be an Immigrant is to constantly reflect on who you are, where you come

from, and how you are different from those around you. When you're an immigrant, you don't

really belong anywhere--and you're never really at home anywhere."

              When I read the part about being an immigrant is both a blessing and a curse I couldn’t help but reflect on this. I never really think of how I feel about being an immigrant. This surely got me thinking.
To me it is a blessing to be an immigrant because there is a sense of adventure. It’s like embarking on a huge, magnificent journey to a whole new place and I get a sense of adrenaline. It’s as if I am an explorer and there is this journey that can impact my life in a way that I could have never imagined. It is a blessing because a challenge is being thrown at you and it’s a challenge that you are willing to take. That you are willing to succeed in. It’s a blessing because you get to experience something that you would have never experienced if you hadn’t immigrated. You get to interact with people that you probably would have never had the chance to. You become multicultural and multilingual, which I think is one of the best parts.( I really love learning new languages.)

             But of course there is the “cursed” part of being an immigrant. Pressman-Fuentes does a good job at naming these curses. I think the first one for me is not being able to adapt well. Having difficulty learning the language. (Although, this is not really a huge problem anymore.) When my family watches home videos I can notice that when I was starting to speak English I would speak with a very thick Mexican accent. It seems to me that it can no longer be noticed but it definitely slips out sometimes. It is a curse because there is this tiny part of me that fears I might forget aspects of my native culture (I think my parents have helped in preserving some of these aspects so I should probably not be worried to loose them.)

            Another part of the paragraphs above that really struck me is; “When you're an immigrant, you don't really belong anywhere--and you're never really at home anywhere” This is true because when the mixture of two cultures are in you and you have embraced both, you don’t really know where you belong. You find yourself confused when it comes to defining “home.” Another reason why I agree with the quote is that I sometimes notice myself randomly saying, “I want to go home” when I am clearly in my house. So is home the place you are living in? The place you were born in? Somewhere else where you have not yet traveled to? or is there no home, am I just a “nomad”?

KING STILL KING!

                Martin Luther King, Jr., I would be willing to bet is someone that every person six years old (if not younger) or older in these United States knows who he was and most likely knows he “ had a dream.”
It is evident that he is still remembered and he will continue to be remembered. Someone who along with other great people fought for their rights will never be forgotten. The era of civil rights movement and the segregation that was the cause of this movement are a great part of the Unites States’ history, a bleak part, but one that truly impacted the course of American history.

                 Could these people have known just how much of an impact they would make? Could they have imagined that their actions would not only inspire their time and people but also future generations? Because of them and what they did, America has become a greater place.

                MLK’s dream has come true. At least for the most part it has. Most are “judged not by the color of their skin but, by the content of their character.” We still experience or see some racism today but definitely not as much or as extreme as it was during his time. The US has definitely come a long way from singing “ If you’re white you’re alright, if you’re brown stick around, if you’re black go back” to praising and singing songs about people like MLK and everyone who fought for their freedom.

                 I have always wondered, and I am sure I am not alone in this, would Martin Luther King be proud of how far the US has come along in the way people are treated? Would something have disappointed him? It is a shame that he is not alive still and cannot see just how much he, along with the other great freedom fighters, have impacted the way many people now live.

This Sacred Soil

            I really enjoyed reading This Sacred Soil by Chief Seattle. While reading I got this sense that many Native Americans were feeling this way. Their land was being invaded and they all seem to have feelings of hopelessness and came to accept their "untimely decay."

            I found it interesting that Seattle said "The white chief says that Big Chief at Washington sends us greetings of friendship and goodwill. This is kind of him for we know he has little need of our friendship in return." It just goes to show that these people were never fooled. They knew what their "paleface brothers" were doing. They probably choose to cooperate and give up their land instead of risk being massacred. That is why the Big Chief didn’t need their friendship in return. It was as if he said “Since you guys are doing this without any struggle I’ll let you move to your assigned little corner without any harm done to you and don‘t think I‘ll be giving you anything more than that. I don’t care if you dislike me for that.”

             I also liked how even though he was agreeing to the treaty, and his people will move, there are still many whose spirits will be staying and roaming that land. He creates a picture of how unlike the “White Man” the “Red Man” choose to remember their diseased ancestors and they are still “alive” and they will always have a tie to the land they will be giving up. And how the White Man leaves such land were his ancestors are buried and does not regret forgetting it. When he talks about how when they think that they are alone there will be the spirits of this ancestors there, he pretty much is saying, “Even though we have agreed to move, we will never truly leave that place which was rightfully ours.” So in a way they get to keep their land.


P.S. I'm ACTUALLY liking these short stories.