Migration Story Excerpt:
After endless amounts of months waiting and waiting, Kyong Mi who is now ten years old, continued to work and take care of her mother in the suburbs of Incheon. She patiently waited for her brothers and dad to return just to be told by her uncle that they had all passed away. She didn’t lose just one but all four of the men in her life. “I remember not even really understanding what dying meant, all I knew was that they all promised to come back… I knew they would come back, why would they leave me here alone?” said my grandma as her eyes filled up with tears. Although she didn’t understand the severity of it, she knew she would have to continue working and not attending school. She was determined not to move or relocate in case someone came back home looking for her. Years had passed at this point and her mother had passed away when on Kyong Mi’s sixteenth birthday. She was alone with no one to turn to or depend on, little to no money and no family in close vicinity. That is when she met my grandpa, Cha Dong Hoon just two years later. She immediately felt secured and safe meeting him. “I was alone for those two years just working and working but then your grandpa came, he saved me during the worst time of my life.” They got married after just seven months of dating and had kids shortly after. My grandparents both continued to work but knew they didn’t want to make their kids go through the hardship they both had to go through. My grandpa was lucky to leave the war alive.
Fast forward ten years later, South Korea was starting to become more safe and a comfortable place that my grandma was okay to call home until she realized her eldest child, Cha Sung Mi, the only son of the family was going to have to be enlisted in the war in a couple years. “It hit me out of nowhere. I had forgotten that every man is required to serve at least two years in the army between ages 18-28 and I immediately panicked even though he wouldn’t turn 18 until another 3 years.” Kyong Mi wasn’t ready to lose another person in her life, especially her own son. Given, there wasn’t an intenses war going on but her traumatic passed couldn’t be ignored or forgotten. In the next five months, my grandma had decided she is going to relocate her entire family to the U.S.. This process isn’t easy and took endless amount of time, money, and patience but slowly but surely, each kid got accepted to go into the states on a student visa which may be the first step into citizenship. She sent my uncle and grandpa to Alameda, California in 1984 with just $500 USD. By the time my mom, aunts, and grandma finally immigrated to Alameda too, it was 1989 and my uncle was officially a U.S. citizen. My grandma's main goal was to make sure that her son didn’t have to serve in the army or war again due to her traumatic past and she made it happen. Through all her hardships and sacrifices, she made her dream come true, which is to not lose another loved one and allow her kids to live a peaceful life living the American dream.
As of now, my grandma is living peacefully in Hayward and considers the Bay Area her home. She knows more English than Korean and went to classes to relearn Korean because she had never formally learned Korean, she only knew how to speak Korean because her mom taught her. All her kids are living the American dream, although none of them had graduated from college, they are all living in the Bay Area, making great money doing what they love, and most of all, they are all healthy. That is where I come in, I am hoping to be the first college graduate because I should be more than thankful to get education when my grandma didn’t even get to attend elementary. My grandma made the bold move across the world after losing her loved ones in order to keep her now new loved ones in her life. She could have stayed in South Korea and risk losing more people she loved but she didn’t want to take that risk. She moved here with nothing but made something out of it and herself. “Although South Korea is now one of the most developed countries in the world, I do not wish to go back,” says my grandma. She is comfortable here in the Bay Area, her new and better home.
Essay II Excerpt:
Going back to my first essay, my grandma, Kyong Mi was very hesitant to open up about her story nor did she have time. Growing up, I always asked my grandma about her life in South Korea and life in America but she never had time to tell me because she was always working. After many years, she was finally able to tell me her story for the last paper. My parents were the same way. They were constantly working because they were immigrants. They had to work two times harder than American born people. I always gave my parents the cold shoulder and the guilt trip because they were never around during my childhood, only my grandma was but even then she was working most times. As a young child, I never understood why this was the case because I was influenced by my classmates and naive. I would always get jealous seeing my white friends getting picked up by their parents and taken to the mall while I was picked up by my grandma who had walked there with a stroller because she had no car. Little things like that hurt me because I was young and dumb. I assumed my parents were never home because they didn’t want to spend time with me but reality was, they spent all my childhood working endlessly in order to support me. My grandma also sacrificed a lot to watch me my entire childhood and my three other cousins all while also working in the kitchen of a restaurant. My parents nor my grandma ever showed their struggles or stories of discrimination in work to me until recently when I turned twenty years old because they did not want to admit to even theirselves that they had to work harder because they were immigrants. They went through twenty jobs each until they found the right job that they assumed was paying them fairly and didn’t discriminate just because they were from South Korea.
Everyday immigrants struggle to make a living and a name for themselves here in the United States. The American dream isn’t always so sweet and easy to achieve, it takes dedication and patience because immigrants are all on their own. Immigrants have no resources when finding a job and they are also at risk of getting discriminated. Unfair pay and discrimination in a workplace is a real issue that has been going on for many years. This has to change, not just for immigrants but for the country as a whole. Silencing immigrants with a harsh treatment and discrimination will only silence their stories for so long. When the true colors and stories of discrimination against these immigrants who come to the states for a better life are shown, it will just backfire on the media and government that kept their mouths shut and didn’t help anyone but themselves. One day, there will be no media bias and fair laws giving immigrants equal opportunities to have the life they came to the United States for.
Community Call to Action:
There needs to be change in America, now! With Trump becoming president, there has been so much hatred, discrimination, and punishment against immigrants. Us American's need to make change one step at a time. Even if it's making sure we stand up for immigrants who are discriminated against, whether it's at a school or at a job, stick up for one another. Little changes like that can reassure immigrants that we are all here to help! Immigrants simply come to America for a better life, not to make our lives harder or take our jobs. We as Americans, who are fortunate enough to have what we have and live where we live, need to not forget where our ancestors once came from and be humble. Migrant stories need to be heard and acknowledged. The world we live in should be a loving and welcoming place not filled with discrimination and hatred. America would not be America if there were no immigrants. Just remember, the shoes you're wearing, the food you're eating, and the house you're living in, were all built or made by immigrants. Americans need to realize that immigrants have an American Dream too! Just because you're born in America into a wealthy family with a lot of resources doesn't make you any better than immigrants. At least they're trying to work for a better life and working to get closer to their dream, the same dream we all have, the American Dream. There will be changes soon, not with Trump, but with someone who cares for the future of America as a country. Until then, it is important to allow immigrants to speak up on their stories! We as Americans need to listen and give them the time of day to open up about their struggles and stories.
Don't forget... Immigrants, we get the job done!
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