Augustine Williams. Who is he? He is my cousin and plays on a professional soccer team for the Portland Timbers. Ever since he was a little kid, it was his dream to play for a professional soccer team, and now he is living that dream. Growing up, Augustine came from a place where there were many hardships. Being born in ... Read More »
“The land of good life, and opportunity,” is what I often thought of when I would work in the green orchards that caused my hands to become rough-over the years from picking fruits for my alcoholic father on our 20 to 40 acre orchard farm in Akil, Yucatan. I am Alberto Muuk’ a 5’3 Mayan man from Akil, Yucatan. I ... Read More »
Many migrate for a chance at a better life. However, for my mother, this was not the case. She grew up in a small village in Jalisco, Mexico. She lived in a modest home with both parents, four sisters, and two brothers. Her father drove a Pepsi truck, and her mom ran a restaurant. My mother’s favorite place to go ... Read More »
She had a lingering desire to go back, but she knew she had to stay to guarantee a secure and prosperous future for her children. During Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency, he made a statement about immigrants. He stated, “Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists”(1932). This quote shows there ... Read More »
Imagine a woman—40-years-old yet unmarried—in a country that does not recognize her hardships, a country only recently recognized by the United States. Imagine having lived there for her whole life, persecuted by nearly everyone around her, and known by no one in the journey that lies ahead of her. This was China in 1981, a year of great uncertainties and ... Read More »
Some immigrants might say, how do you fight against a force with no morals, no boundaries, the shadow to encumber the light of liberty, the ICEberg to sink the ship of freedom, the assassin of the American dream? Life back in Iran was a calm one, with slowly rising tension. Even though war was on the rise, the dream to ... Read More »
Imagine waking up and not hearing alarms or factories working, but instead the voices of kids yelling as they played in the courtyard, the sound of food sizzling while being cooked in a cart by our local vendor in Hong Kong. The savory yet piquant smell of Luobo Gao as it wafted throughout the air and into your living room. ... Read More »
Before leaving he said to me, “If you have stuttered or looked down I would have rejected your visas.” I didn’t know what was going to happen at the immigration center. Me and my mom had to get approval stamps and give a believable reason to come here. Leaving Mexico was a blur. My home was in Mexico City, the heart ... Read More »