Coming to America
Moving to the USA was really hard for me. I knew that everything was going to change. I was 22 years old and I was about to finish college when my parents told me I was moving to the United States. I was confused and sad seeing that I was going to leave everything behind like school, friends and the most important thing - my country Haiti.
The day I was leaving Haiti was the saddest moment in my life. Knowing that more opportunities were waiting for me had put a smile on my face. I was leaving my life behind and I knew that was a tough decision. I was a college student studying Business Administration. I was in my 3rd year of my college education going to my 4th year. They gave me the news that I was coming to the USA the week that I was doing my final exams. I couldn't believe it until they showed me the doctor's appointment paper. The funniest part was that I kept studying for my exams because I was focusing on my career at that time. I didn't want to leave until they showed me the plane tickets. One can only imagine the pain that I felt through my heart to see all those years of studying and hard-work gone. It was as if my body was leaving but my heart and my soul were left behind.
The worst moment was when I finally arrived here and I found myself sitting inside of the house with nobody around to talk to. At that moment grief, sadness and loneliness hit me all at once and I started to cry. I spent most of the days sleeping, eating and watching TV. I had to wait until my family came back from work to talk in the house with someone. Sometimes I felt like I wanted to go back to my country and never come back. All of sudden all those memories from Haiti came into my mind and started to make me go crazy. My father always reassured me by saying everybody was going through the same process. I had to be patient and stop hurting myself with those negative thoughts. He always said:" Everything will be fine when you find a job and go to school". He was right about that.
It was really scary for me during this whole time of transition. I dropped everything to make this big step in my life. I knew that I gave my country 22 years and I knew at the same time that I had to move on to build a new life. It was not easy at the beginning but I asked God for the strength to keep fighting for my future and to adapt myself to this new environment. My faith kept me motivated for what I really wanted to be. I had patience that one day all will be good - and here I am, already feeling at home.
