The Story of an immigrants life - Essay Example

Professor Name Institution, course number Date The Story of an immigrant’s life Immigration is a natural process, connected with the changes in the life of people. It has a great influence on the internal feelings of the individual, because immigration is always connected with certain adventure. The reasons why people change the place of their living are very different. In some cases it is connected with financial problems, in others with various types of segregation and so forth. The most important thing is that change of the familiar atmosphere may bring the person to the change of all his values and purposes. The aim of this work is to analyze the cultural event connected with the history of my family and include the detailed reflection on how this story affected the sense of my identity. My story starts with the city of Bangladesh, which declared its independence in December 16, 1971. The new country faced constant contradictions between the official authorities and the ambitious struggle to move forward and achieve the success. In 1995, my uncle Ahmadur Rahman moved to the USA with his family in order to provide his children with the better life conditions. His family would have never left Bangladesh, if they knew about all troubles outside the city. His brother ran for the elections in Narayanganj Dhaka and this fact influenced the life of the whole family. The things became worth with every coming day. Once, my cousin, Shah was kidnapped. My aunt was scared to death and after that situation, people guarded him from school to home. Their grandfather A. R. Bhuiya was a serious businessman. He was poisoned by his step brother and sister, so that they could take control over his property. My aunt called her life “a hell”. She was constantly worried about the future of her children. She always prayed God that her children would not end up in dirty politics. After the elections, people suffered from constant strikes. My ankle’s family left their houses only in case of necessity. The greatest strike took place when my uncle decided to move to the USA. In the morning they saw the huge crowd marching toward their house. The crowd had beaten up their guards and broken the gate. The opposition party broke all the glasses in the house and burned down one of their cars. The police came in, which caused the aggressive attitude of the opposition. My aunt, ranged in anger, decided to move to the USA with the whole family next month. The departure was a very hard process for my aunt. She left all her life behind and sacrificed it for the sake of the children. The situation in the USA was not better than in Bangladesh. My aunt considered it as a civilized country, where there were no crimes. However, she became very disappointed after facing the true state of things. My uncle was the only person, who spoke English. The whole family moved to Brooklyn. Staying along due to the business trip of her husband to Bangladesh, my aunt felt like an alien in the new surroundings. When they first came in, the family used to live in the American hotel. Before his departure, my uncle rented a flat in Brooklyn for them. The whole atmosphere was unknown. It concerned different things: food, language, mentality. They had some cash, but were unable to buy products in the grocery. The only place with the familiar menu for them was burger king, not far from their house. For all the time, they mostly stayed at home. It was a really tough life for them. They spend two month inside the apartment, eating only the burger king. The world started to fall apart again when they saw a street fight and heard the gun fire. My aunt was scared to death. She did not know what to do. When they went outside, the whole family stepped out together. They saw much gang violence. My aunt thought that it would have been better to be in Bangladesh at that moment. Violence was all over the place (Fried, Joseph, 1999). In two month my uncle returned from Bangladesh and the whole family was very happy about that. After seeing all the violence, they decided to return to Bangladesh as there they had at least some protection. The children began to attend school again. However, my uncle remained worried about the life of his children. My aunt was terrified with all fighting and struggle for power and property in Bangladesh. In order to protect the children, she connected with her relatives in Canada after which the whole family moved there. Canada was totally different from Brooklyn. It was quite a peaceful place. My uncle left on business again, but it was not so bad this time. My aunt’s relatives helped them with applying the children to local school, where they learned French and English. My uncle helped them financially from Bangladesh. However, life took a spin again. As their visa was originally from the USA, they could not stay in Canada or else it would expire. They decided to move to New York and rented a place in Jackson heights. This time the immigration process was much easier. Two of my aunt’s children knew English, the grocery was not far from them and the cashier spoke their language. The eldest daughter became the guardian of the family, as she was the only one who spoke fluent English. She got her younger brother and sister admitted to school near Jackson height. Life was going great. My uncle did not work in the USA for his entire life. In 2000, he faced toss, for which he could send only half of the rent money. He offered my aunt to come back, but she refused because of the children. However, she had to earn money. Her elder two daughters started to work at the grocery, while my aunt worked at a laundry shop, because she didn’t know English. My uncle insisted on their coming back but they remained in the USA. For almost two years they lived happily. My aunt knew that her children wouldn’t be rich but they wouldn’t have any violence in their life as well. In September, 11, 2001 began the new chapter of her life. The family felt alienated from the society and my aunt did all her best in order not to comply with it. However, her two daughters did not face racial discrimination neither her son. In 2004, her daughter graduated from college and started an IT job. My aunt left her work as her daughter could take care for her. In 2005, she sold the property in Bangladesh and bought few houses in America. Now she doesn’t work and collects rent which is more than an average American salary. Today she is proud and happy for the decision she made 19 years ago. Her son owns a million dollar company which he started without the assistance of his father. Her daughter is a senior-software developer. My aunt is a grandma. All her dreams came true. I came to the USA in 2011 and began to live with them. My observations showed that the challenges which they faced made them even better people and united them even more closely together. The story of my relatives greatly affected my sense of identity, because I understood that the most important thing is not who you are but who you can become in future. It showed me that people cannot always control everything that happens in their life. The story of my uncle’s family expressed that even the most successful people can suffer from the external factors, which is impossible to prevent or fight with. The aggressiveness of people and their impatience to others cause the process of immigration. It is very difficult to survive in the society, where you feel the threat of violence and oppression. Personally I would choose to immigrate to another city than to live in the city disorders. My experience, based on this story, represents that personal security is much more important than financial status and well being. I think that every person has a chance to survive in another community, if there is no discrimination in relation to him. My aunt lived in the uncomfortable conditions for many years without any doubt to return to the previous place. I consider it as the strength of character and greatly respect her actions. In my life, I will be ruled by the personal characteristics, but not the place of living. A talented person can be talented everywhere. I can reveal my knowledge in any place of the world. In this way I will be able to save my sense of identity and develop personal characteristics. Concluding this article, it is important to mention that immigration is a difficult moment in the life of any family. However, if the family has a common aim, it will achieve it despite all the life troubles. Works Cited Borjas, G., 2013. Immigration and the American worker. Retrieved from: http://cis.org/immigration-and-the-american-worker-review-academic-literature “POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE.” Immigrant and refugee board of Canada. N. p., n. d. Web 27 Oct. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/country/canada_coi/bangladesh/ISSUES_PAPER_POLITICAL-DEVELOPMENTS-AND-POLITICAL-VIOLENCE.pdf Fried, J. “Fighting gang violence with job prospects”. The New York Times, 13 Oct. 1999.Web. 27 Oct. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/14/nyregion/fighting-gang-violence-with-job-prospects.html Sengupta, S. “In a former porn palace, a new outlet for the best of Bollywood”. The New York Times, 18 Nov. 1995. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/19/nyregion/neighborhood/-report-jackson-heights-former-porn-palace-new-outlet-for-best.html Read More