The changing environments throughout the ages have caused the movement of thousands of families out of their homelands. Whether forced to make such decisions or doing so by their own desires, all immigrants have had to survive the physical and psychological challenges encountered along the way. To speak about the experiences of all these different people using the same ideas and examples would be quite inaccurate. They all, however, had to live through similar situations and deal with similar problems. Many of them succeeded and found the better future they were looking for. Many others found only hardship and experienced the destruction of their hopes and dreams. All of them were transformed.
Packing up and leaving one's home is one of the hardest things a person can experience. Unfortunately, there are many instances when people are forced to do so. Alejandro Portes, author of Immigrant America: A Portrait , mentions in his book that although loving and cherishing the homeland, people are sometimes forced to leave because of its disadvantages. The "desperate poverty, squalor, and unemployment" are among the most common reasons that cause immigration out of a country. Hundreds of families in third world countries literally struggle to put bread on the table. There are many people who can't find jobs and therefore aren't able to provide enough food and other everyday necessities for their families. These miserable conditions bring thoughts of moving to other places where a family can survive.
The actual days of leaving and traveling to these new and promising places are quite painful. Among the many things immigrants leave behind are family, friends, and favorite places. A woman who immigrated to Canada in 1959 wrote in her memoir, found in a passage of a SAT book, the following sentences:
I'm filled to the brim with what I am about to lose-images of Cracow, which I loved as one loves a person, of the sanbaked villages where we had taken summer vacations, of the hours I spent poring over passages of music with my piano teacher, of conversations and escapades with friends.
Many immigrants feel the same way about the things they leave. I know I did when I left my home country of Bulgaria. My parents were hoping to provide my brother and me with a brighter future by moving to the US, the country where anything is possible, or so everyone said. It was 1998 and I was thirteen. I still remember the day we left and how hard it was for my whole family. Through tears, I said goodbye to all my relatives and friends whom I cherished and loved. I felt as if the whole world was closing up in me. I was being taken away from everything I knew and everything I loved. The cool breeze of that autumn day rushed through me as if foreshadowing a hard and cold future. The moment came for us to get on the plane. I wanted to stop time and run away, back to everything I knew. But that was impossible; the choice of turning back did not exist. As I was going up the stairs of the plane, I looked around at the airport and its surroundings. I looked and saw the warmth and light of the familiar places. I took a deep breath of the air around me, knowing it was the last time I could sense it, and went in. It really was hard for me to say goodbye to people and things which had been a part of my life and not to know if and when I would be able to see them again.
Immigrating is not an easy and pleasant experience for most, at least at first. The unknown future is something that constantly occupies one's mind. Some people are optimists and always hope for the best. There are others, however, who, as written by the woman who immigrated to Canada, "look ahead and see an enormous and cold blackness." Whether they share this dark view of the future or look for the brighter one, most immigrants don't have the faintest idea of what's to come.
Although leaving home is a painful and arduous experience, the foreigners in a new land find the process of acculturation even harder and more depressing. Despite the immigrants' desire to maintain their culture and traditions in the new place, most of their lifestyle changes as they settle into a different environment. Many rituals and celebrations are forgotten due to the busy life, the unfamiliar surroundings, and the lack of people who share the same holidays. Also, as the book Remix by Marina Budhos suggests, the behavior of the natives could sometimes be very different from what people are accustomed to. One such example is the following excerpt from an interview with Marina, a sixteen-year-old girl from Albania:
Oh my God, my American friends, their family life is so different! They can talk back to their families. I think that's so wrong. Since I was brought up with such respect, I will never ever in my life disrespect my father or my mother...If you don't have respect for your parents, then who do you have respect for?
Many teenagers share Marina's view of American kids and young adults. What they also find difficult and beyond understanding is the way they are sometimes treated. I think we can all admit that there has always been an underlying tension against immigration. Although America is known for the liberty and equal opportunity it offers, we have all been witnesses to discrimination. It is more evident in some areas than in others, but it exists in almost, if not every state. A large part of the population today is still against immigration and makes some attempts to restrict foreigners from coming to the US. In an article of the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the author talks about the use of discriminative ads in newspapers to promote the limit of immigration. I read all of them afterwards and was amazed. In short, their main purpose was to convince Americans that immigration is basically destroying the country.
I also personally have painful memories from the first few years of my life here. It is very unpleasant for me to remember all the immature and ridiculous things American teenagers have done to me. Like all other immigrants, I felt out of place for the first few years of my life here. I remember going to school with such anxiety to see what the next disappointment would be. My schoolmates would constantly look at me and point their fingers at me. Also, they would try to make me feel even more miserable by doing things such as pretending to be friendly and at the same time tying my shoelaces together.
Of the many unpleasant days in school, there is one that is locked in my memory. It was in late October, during seventh grade, and the grey and foggy sky contributed to the sad mood I was in. The worst part of the day was during a class in which the students worked on different projects involving work with metal pieces. Because I didn't know anyone, I was standing alone trying to work on my project. At some point the teacher left the room, and some of my classmates decided to have some "fun with the foreigner who has no friends." They were making fun of the way I looked and the way I dressed. They pointed their fingers at me and laughed at me in front of the whole class. On top of that, they started throwing small pieces of metal at me. I remember being wordless because these were things that I thought even little children don't do. What also struck me was that nobody said anything to defend me, and yet everyone was watching and laughing. I could hardly hold my tears. I went home after school that day and cried for a long time. This moment had such a deep impact on me that I will probably never forget it and it will always remind me of the "welcoming" environment I encountered when I came to the US. And although in some cases such experiences are not as bad, all foreigners are in some way affected by them.
Assimilation to a completely different society is not an easy thing. Immigrants have to get used to the new way of life in order to find success and happiness. They have to adapt to the new environment, the suburbs or the city, which could be much different from what they are used to. Also, they have to accustom to the new way of thinking, what is considered acceptable and what isn't in the new society. The new weather conditions affect some people; some enjoy them and others experience health problems due to the change. Even the new way of dressing and reacting in different situations are issues that immigrants need to get used to. These things, however, are much easier said than done.
Among the many obstacles encountered on the way, the new language is by far the most important one. As Alejandro Portes mentions in his book, "the language is the principal initial barrier for the newcomers." He further says that not knowing the language leads to a number of other obstacles, employment difficulties being one of them. Not knowing the language prevents immigrants from finding good jobs. As an internet article about immigration, "The Pioneers", suggests, many of them come to the new countries with high levels of education, but their lack of language does not allow them to use their knowledge. Hundreds of families struggle in everyday situations because of communication difficulties. They see that knowing the language is essential to daily survival as well as for long-term success. Parents and older immigrants have more trouble learning it, and so many of them depend on their children's skills.
I found that learning English was one of the hardest things. It was important for my schoolwork as well as for daily chores. I had learned some in Bulgaria, but it was nothing compared to what I needed to know in order to succeed in America. I still remember my first day in school, and how I couldn't understand anything people were saying to me. I walked into my homeroom and saw unfamiliar faces and heard unfamiliar phrases. I can still feel the chills going up my spine, the chills of fear and anxiety I felt that Monday morning. I had a very hard time trying to communicate with my teacher. Happily, I was saved by the bell.
That, however, was not the end. I had to go to my next class. It was geography. I went in and sat down at the desk in the corner. My heart was beating so hard, I could actually hear it. A few kids walked in and started asking me questions. That's when the real pain began. I couldn't answer them; I couldn't understand a word they were saying. Then after a while, seeing that we couldn't communicate, they left me alone. I felt like an outcast. That same week I took my first test and, not surprising to anyone, I failed it. It was very frustrating to see that even though I had the potential to do well in school, the lack of English was in my way.
As the days went by I thought more and more about this. I made a promise to myself to overcome this obstacle and started to learn the language. Since then, I have spent hours and hours reading books and translating and studying words. And now, after five years, I am still in the process of learning English.
The apparent obstacles, however, don't clearly paint the picture of the life of an immigrant. There are so many things that happen only in the minds of these people. All of them experience some kind of inner turmoil, but the level of it is different for each individual. After studying this subject, Alejandro Portes writes that "higher stress was found among females, the elderly, those unable to speak English, the uneducated, and the unemployed." Psychologist Elzbieta Tracewicz confirms this statement by saying, in an internet article, "Voices That Must Be Heard", that children adapt more quickly than adults. She also says, however, that their adaptation is more painful because of the critical age they are in.
Because all individuals experience the changes in their own way, the reactions and long-term consequences of immigration vary. The new environment has both positive and negative effects on one's character. Although there are instances where people become completely accustomed to their new lives without many problems, most cases are quite different. Portes says that some people "struggle for self-esteem...and shock, and effects of the shock persist for many years." Tracewicz suggests that a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is found among the immigrants. She further says:
It takes place when a person's physical and psychological functioning are affected as a result of living through events beyond their typical experience...Immigration is a traumatic experience: one's home is destroyed in both a physical and psychological sense...The symptoms include repeated remembrance of the past and a desire to return to it, insomnia, nightmares, or startled awakenings, fears during the day, avoidance of situation related to the trauma (i.e., avoidance of English-speaking classmates).
There was a period in my life that resembled the situation just mentioned above. Because of the big change I experienced, I remember having some of the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I was becoming very shy and closed within myself. It was partly because I wasn't able to express my feelings and desires due to my lack of English. I constantly stayed in my room and didn't communicate if not absolutely necessary. It was extremely hard for me to overcome this state of depression because I didn't have any friends to talk to or ask for advice. And talking to my parents wasn't easy either because their lives were even harder at the time. Both of them had to face embarrassing situations many times a day due to the lack of skills in English. They are both very well educated, but they had to find jobs which didn't require much speaking. Also, the new surroundings were influencing them more negatively than positively; they didn't feel as secure and confident as before. Because of these things, my whole family often wondered why we had left and had to now live through this hardship.
Some immigrants are able to succeed in overcoming the stress and troubles on the way and move on. Others, unfortunately, give in and are worn down by hardship. I consider myself a member of the former group. Like everyone else, I was exposed to stressful situations, such as going to a new school, living in a new home, being with new people; it was a completely different way of life. No matter how hard it was in the beginning, however, I didn't give up and kept my faith. I have had many days of disappointment and stress since the moment I set my feet on US soil. But the deeper I thought about it, I finally realized that so does everyone else. I spent more time thinking about my future and my views on life in general. I noticed that I slowly changed. My immigration experience helped me realize many things about life and what is important about it. I became a much stronger person with an optimistic view about all the tomorrows. As time passed, I started smiling more and more and began to believe in my abilities and myself. Although I immigrated during such an important time in my life, I didn't let the change have a negative effect on my character and, more importantly, ruin my future.
Immigrating is one of the most difficult things that people can experience in their lives. Whether pressed to leave their countries or doing so on their own accord, all immigrants encounter difficulties on the way. The different environment has both positive and negative effects, and all individuals experience the process of acculturation in their own way. Some of them benefit from the change and others suffer. As Elzbieta Tracewicz says:
Immigration is a very difficult time in a person's life. It can be grand chance of advancement or it can be a personal disaster. It is up to the individual to plot his or her course. Advancement is about the ability to turn the difficulties we face into opportunities for success.
What we should all try to remember is that despite the fact that immigrants sometimes look different from the natives or have different cultures and ways of live, they still deserve the same respect as everyone else. America is a free land which offers equal opportunity to all. Let us stick to these principles and lead a peaceful life.
Sources Used: Budhos, Marina. Remix. Markham: Fitzherry & Whiteside Ltd, 1999. ;College Board. ; "The New Pioneers." Prairie Public. PBS Online. 8 September 2003 <http://www.prairiepublic.org>. ; Portes, Alejandro, and Ruben G. Rumbaut. Immigrant America; A Portrait. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990. ;Tracewicz, Elzbieta. "When a Child Emigrates." Voices That Must Be Heard. 2003. Independent Press Association. 14 September 2003 <http://www.indypressny.org>. |