“Before I came here, the U.S. was like a beautiful dream to me, a country of pure happiness, where no one has problems. When I finally moved here I saw that this place is far from perfect, but I can’t say I’m disappointed. I still like it much better here than the country I came from. After all, if everything was perfect, life would be boring.
I came here from Moldavia, a small country near Romania which used to be part of the Soviet Union. There. The economy of my country was very unstable and it caused many difficulties for people. Factories were closing, people were losing their jobs, and most of the important jobs were very poorly paid. It was difficult for a middle-class person to go to college and for a person from a poor family was impossible. This country offers me more opportunities.
The main difficulty in adjusting to American life is learning English. It is very difficult, especially the first few months. The language barrier keeps you from feeling like you’re a part of this life, this society.
The people I have met here are mostly very nice, but sometimes they made the most hurtful comments about my accent. One day in ceramics class, this guy made noises like he was making fun of my accent. I felt so bad about this. After the class, I went up to him and said, “Don’t you think it’s not really polite, and it can hurt me when you do something like this?”
He really surprised me. He said he was sorry and he didn’t realize it was going to hurt me. He just thought maybe it was going to be funny.
Maybe American teens don’t realize that America is a country of immigrants.”
