My Keys to Succeed In America

Raghida Choucair
Professor P. Potvin
Comp 227
10/12/09
My Keys to Succeed as a New Immigrant to America
As a young migrant mother living in the United States, I had to face many obstacles in my daily life. My family and I migrated from Lebanon in 2003, looking for a good opportunity and better life. I was presented with many challenges. I had to remain close to my heritage and culture to keep my children close to our homeland cultures. Also, I had to integrate with mainstream American society to adjust to a new life and new culture.
The English language and the integration in the American society and culture were the main challenges that had often created tension for me and for my children since we speak and dress different than other people. After I read the article “In the Waiting Room”; I remembered one of my experiences in my early days in the United States. One day I was in my children’s school, waiting for the teacher to explain how to deal with my son who was struggling in his first grade class. The school principal told me that my son’s teacher would be with me in ten minutes. I was walking slowly in the hallway at a rhythmic pacing with my shoes making irritating noises to the principal. She asked me to have a seat and to have a cup of coffee. Also she said that I could read some of the magazines on a small black table in the corner of a small waiting area until my son’s teacher came and talked to me.
My son had a nice American teacher. She was in her mid-fifties. In our previous meeting, she tried to use very simple English sentences with me after she noticed that I barely understood what she was saying. I kept asking her to repeat every statement at least twice. She was very kind to reword her statement in simple phrases until I would say with an encouraging smile that I understood what she explained. I was worried because that teacher asked me to bring my husband with me for the meeting after she learned that I just arrived in the USA two weeks ago. But my husband told me that he had an important meeting at his work and he could not attend the school meeting. I promised myself I would do much better in that meeting with my child’s teacher. I would ask her to speak a little bit slower than the previous meeting, and it would run smoothly.
I cheered up because I took three Basic English Language classes in my country before I immigrated to the United States, and I got A’s in those classes. My high confidence faded away a few minutes later. In fact, those classes were not enough for me to develop the good skills to speak and communicate with the people in the United State.
I was sitting in the office waiting for the teacher to come, I was thinking of the best way to overcome my frustration. Suddenly, I heard an emergency alarm siren in the hallway, in few seconds, all the people in the school were running outside the building. I did not understand what was going on. I jumped to the middle of the hallway. I was scared to take any action or to take any step such as leaving the building or going inside the classrooms. I froze in my place I had no idea what I should do.
I hate the emergency alarm because it reminds me of a very sad incident. I was nine years old, and my best neighbor, Mohamed, used to treat me like his preferred daughter. He used to remember my birthday every year; he never forgot to bring me a nice surprise gift. He was my private music teacher. He taught me how to play piano. Until one day he got very sick. A few weeks later, I learned that he had cancer and he had few months to live. I used to visit him every evening after I finished my homework. I was praying every night and asked God with high hope to save my best friend. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the silent spring night, a scary ambulance siren broke my dream and woke me at the midnight. My best friend was taken to the hospital in a critical condition. I started to scream with all my voice “You are ok my Mohamed… I will see you tomorrow…” The next day, that ambulance brought my dead friend with the same screaming sounds and lights. From that day I am always link the emergency alarm with the losing of my beloved people.
All the people in the school were running and shouting at me to leave the building. I was wondering if I had to run and leave my children inside the building or go and get them from their classrooms. Of course, I couldn’t leave my children inside the building. I had been raised to be the mother who should risk her own life to save her children.
In that difficult time, I recalled a story I read when I was in the fifth grade, where a mother used to pick up her daughter from school and walked with her to their house through a train station. Every time they were crossing the railroad, the mother warned her daughter to watch out for the train. One day, the mother was busy cooking when she heard the horn of a train was passing near her house. She looked from the window of her house and saw her daughter walking on the railroad tracks without paying any attention to train’s horn. The mother ran very fast until she reached her daughter and pushed her away from the deadly train. Unfortunately, the mother fell under the train iron wheels and lost her left leg. Though, the brave mother lived for the rest of her life very happy with an artificial wooden leg after saving the life of her beloved daughter.
I was in the middle of my suffering memories; I heard somebody yelling at me, there was a fire in the building. Just after that I figured out that sound was a fire alarm, and I had to leave immediately. I heard all people were talking to me, but I did not understand them.
My children were evacuated with other students from the building to outside; the teachers with them. Also, the principal walked me out of the building to the emergency gathering area.
Fortunately, the fire alarm shut off after twenty minutes,
After she explained to me that my kids were already evacuated from the building and they got back to their classrooms, she asked me to work hard on my English skills.
I drove to my home thinking that this difficult experience taught me a great lesson. I concluded that the keys of success for me as a new immigrant in the USA are: good English language, good integration in the American society, and deep adaptation to the American culture.
After this incident, I was at a point in my life. Where I had come to realize that I had to improve my English language skills and continue my higher education to satisfy my needs for learning, as well as to have the opportunity for a good life in the USA with my family.
I decided to pursue a bachelor degree in education. Consequently, I would improve my English. Also, I would have the opportunity to learn about different cultures from all over the world. Furthermore, I would accept other people regardless of colors, cultures, education background, and belief.