“One of the reasons why I appreciate this school and why I would do anything for this school is because they changed my life. They made my American dream.” Ernesto Cruz is the girls’ soccer coach and campus supervisor at Palo Alto High School. Cruz has been at this school since 2004. Cruz was born in El Salvador. He grew ... Read More »
Grace (name changed) looked back one more time at the busy street; constant chatter among the neighbors, markets further down the street, with a foul stench only magnified by the humid air, a place she once called home. She was about to embark on a new quest, to escape poverty in Taiwan and travel to America, where her father had ... Read More »
At the young age of 23, Shreya Acharya moved 7672 miles across the world from New Delhi, India to Stanford, California. Her soon-to-be fiancé, Vishal Acharya, was a graduate student at Stanford University at the time. While she had to leave her entire family behind in India, immigrating gave her the opportunity to start another one in the States. As ... Read More »
I was a kid who never knew what the U.S. was, what future was waiting for me here, what courage I was able to obtain, and what blessed life I would end up living. So I walked, ran, and hid to reach my brighter future here in the U.S. I was born on October 11, 1954 on a ranch in ... Read More »
We were 7 children in total and we lived with my mom and dad. My childhood was very sad because the children in El Salvador didn’t know the difference between living like an adult and a child, because we had to work like adults. I didn’t really have a childhood because I had to work so hard for a long ... Read More »
I was only 26 years old when I found out I was pregnant, and I wanted a better life and future for the both of us since the father wanted no part of our future. He was too caught up with being young and did not want the responsibility. Too bad, I’m a strong independent woman. I grew up in ... Read More »
Editor’s note: Slavery is an integral part of the American story and those who were forced to come to the US in chains, are no less immigrants than any other group. Not only was their freedom taken, but in many cases, their personal family history was lost. On this web site of immigration stories, we pick up their descendants’ story ... Read More »
There’s a mother named Flora Bravo Garcia,(name changed) struggling to keep her life as best as she can. Will she make it in the U.S. ? I was living in Jamay, Jalisco, Mexico, in 1980. My life was great as a child. I would play in the mud, and my friends and I would play outside when it rained. As ... Read More »
It was a light winter rain in Ethiopia. I was very angry when I left home that day because of what happened yesterday. I wish life was not so difficult, that my dad was not so strict. I thought this because my dad said that I was not allowed to hang out with my friends, after I arrived home late yesterday. It felt like I could not do ... Read More »
Editor’s note: Slavery is an integral part of the American story and those who were forced to come to the US in chains, are no less immigrants than any other group. Not only was their freedom taken, but in many cases, their personal family history was lost. On this web site of immigration stories, we pick up their descendants’ story ... Read More »