I was merely ten years old when my mother told me that we were moving to the United States.

I was merely ten years old when my mother told me that we were moving to the United States. I found American people to be welcoming, on a daily basis I would meet new people who

would often smile at me and greet me in a friendly manner. It was, however, difficult to interact

with them due to the language barrier. I liked my surrounding, finding it nice, I would often sit in

the balcony just to admire the sight of New York City, especially at night. It was an experience I

had never felt before, despite coming from the biggest city in Bangladesh, it was nothing like

New York City.

After settling in the country, it was time to enroll in school; this is when I realized that I

was different from the other children. I was eager about this, despite finding it difficult to adapt

to the surroundings and interact with people around where we lived; I thought that things would

be better in school. Since I am a social and talkative person, I was eager to meet and make new

friends in school. However, this was not as I noticed that friends were made only if could

converse with them.

Despite learning a few English phrases, I found my friends’ conversation to be rather fast

making it difficult for me to follow. Since I could only construct a few sentences in English,

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most kids in school avoided me. I found this to be very demining. Some of my classmates even

loudly mocked me from the way I spoke and my ascent. I was very embarrassed about myself. I

one instance one girl in my class, Clare, was mimicking me, I really felt bad; I cried a lot that

day. This haunted me immensely and I started regretting why we moved to this country. It was a

difficult situation for me, back in my home country most of the kids in my neighborhood wanted

to be friends with me. But here, it was inverse no one wanted to make friends with me:

somebody who did not know how to express themselves. As the mockery persisted I grew

‘numb’ and ignored their insults and instead appreciated their observation. My parents also

encouraged me to ignore some the insults in school. The main reason we had to move to the

country was because my parents thought that I would get a good education. Therefore, in order to

make them proud of me and be successful in achieving my dreams I had to preserver and ignore

some of the difficult situations I encountered.

When I told my parents how difficult it was getting along with other kids in school they

encouraged me to put an effort into learning English. My aunt would help me in English; I

remember she used to write me phrases which I presented wherever I was asked something.

Despite this, it was difficult to be attentive in class. I was always the center of attention in class. I

would often work on other kids talking and making fun of me.Despite most of my classmates

insulting me and my ascent, there were some who accepted me the way I was. Thanks to them I

was able to learn and adapt however difficult it was. My friend, Jeremy really helped me a lot in

learning English. He would always encourage me to put more effort as well as teaching some of

the English phrases and words. The few friends I had ensured that I was able to master at least an

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English word daily. As I progressed through my studies in the country, my English improved

significantly.

It took me almost three months to be able to make sensible conversation in English. I was

able to communicate and express myself effectively. I can consider the first three months in the

country as the worst time of my life. It was difficult being a young child and always being

reminded by others that you are different from them. Back in my country, I always looked

forward to attending school, but here, my mother would almost drag me to school in the

morning. I had to wake up early in the morning, not because I looked forward to going to school,

but in order to learn a few phrases before heading to school. However, things were a bit different

after the first three months. The number of my friends even started to increase; I no longer

needed to cram English phrases before going to school. After mastering the language, things

progressed smoothly, I was now able to easily cope and interact with many people.

From the difficulties I encountered in the first few months in the country, I made it my point that

by seventh grade I would be fluent in English. The urge made me strive to learn the English

language. I would often consult my aunt, my parents and some of the friends I had made in

school. As a way of practicing English, I would read most of the texts including books, novels

and magazines.

However learning the language, the American culture still had an impact on me. Coming

from Bangladesh, my parents did not entirely conform to American culture. At home, we

observed most of my parent’s culture, the food we took, how we addressed each other as well as

how we dressed. Despite not openly showing it, I could always feel like I was still the odd one

out since I did not entirely fit in the American culture. It was still hard to have a conversation

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with other children in school since other than studies, which most students had little interest in,

we had fewer things in common. Whenever I tried to make a conversation with someone, we

would lack a topic to discuss. I believe this was due to the different cultural backgrounds, which

were strikingly different.

The confusion imparted by the new culture and language impacted my studies. I was not

sure of what I wanted to pursue as my career. I was not sure of even the subjects to major in. one

day I decided to try out a class in computer science. After a few classes in computer science, I

realized that I liked the course. I liked it majorly because I had few friends in school, therefore

working with computers acted as a solace to me. I preferred working with the computers instead

of trying to converse with some of the classmates. My interest in computer science abundantly

grew and I made huge strides in the subject.

Most of my classmates started liking me because of the software solutions that I would

regularly perform in class. This gave me something to be proud of; some of the students who

disliked me because of my difficulty in language started wanting to be my friends. I grew to like

the country and the people, maybe because most of them started to like me because of my

achievements.My passion in conjunction with available opportunity to learn boosted my interest

in the subject. In my homeland, unlike the United States, students have to pay for school fees

which limit most of them from furthering their studies. This, therefore, inspired me to pursue

computer studies which have been a huge model for the person I am today. Another motivation

is that there is an unmentioned rule in the country which required immigrants to work hard in

order to contribute to the economy of the country. Therefore, I felt that the only way in which I

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would contribute to the economy of the United States was by putting an effort into my education

to become successful in my career.

In conclusion, moving to the United States is one of the difficult events in my life.

Flashing back I realize that for an immigrant to adapt in the United States with ease, they have to

learn the English language. My hard time, I believe was because I had not mastered the English

language which became a huge communication barrier. I had to struggle to learn new phrases

and vocabularies every day in order to aid my communication. Therefore, my determination,

interests, and willingness have ensured that my residents in the United States were made rather

easy. However, I think that I still have to work on learning about the American culture since I

think it is the only aspect which I have not fully understood. I am currently working on some of

the basic ethics, which I believe will make me grow as a person as well as aiding my success as a

student.