The American Dream is a wish or goal that everybody wants for their life. People leave their countries and come to New York City for different reasons. The biggest reasons are because of the situation in their home country, like the abuse of power from the government, the poverty, violence, the lack of opportunities to work, and providing an education for future generations.
This article is focused on knowing more about the experiences of students at Liberty High School, a school where there is a lot of cultural diversity in which many young people from different parts of the world strive to study to get ahead in education. Leaving their countries regardless of their roots is a very difficult step for each of them.
Gabriela Vazquez is a student at Liberty High School in 11th grade. She was born in Ecuador and came to the USA in a difficult way. She came looking for a better life. She says, “The reason I left my country was because my parents lived in the USA but separated a long time ago, so my mother took more responsibility of me, so I lived with my maternal family most of the time, I didn’t have a home. I always had to change my environment and start again to establish a close relationship with the people I was going to live with during the entire time I lived in Ecuador. Then my mother decided to see a way to come to the United States.” She says, “I feel like it was all worth it because now I’m living with my mother and I have stability and a safe home. I feel very happy now to have the opportunity to be with my family, in addition to starting a new life and new opportunities in this country.”
Jazmin Rodriguez is another student at Liberty High School in 10th grade. She was born in the United States of America but grew up in Mexico. Her case was very different from the others since she was born in America, but due to the consequences of life she was taken to the country of her roots. She has a point of view about being a person with dual nationality in these 2 countries that are so acclaimed in cases of land migration. She explained, “My parents decided to have me in the United States because they wanted to give me a better life and also when I returned to Mexico I could not stay a lot of time there. Having been born in the country guarantees a successful future and a good cultural adaptation. I think it has many advantages and disadvantages, the advantage is that I am learning the English language, but the disadvantage is that the lifestyle is very different from what I had in Mexico.”
Lastly, Ashley Ramirez is a student at Liberty High School in 11th grade who was born in the Dominican Republic and who had the opportunity to come to the country suddenly through the legal means of immigration. In addition, she has the ability to return to her native country when she can. Her trip to the United States was more comfortable because of the help and resources she was given. She says, “My journey coming to this country went very well because my stepdad is a citizen here and my mom is a resident so that was so helpful to improve my process, and when I was in my country I had a clear idea of the things that I wanted to make here. I can say I’m very grateful for the opportunity because I know a lot of people cannot come here. In the future I hope to be in the US military.”
