Students' Immigration Stories

Students share family immigration stories from Pakistan, the Philippines, Egypt, Mexico, and Vietnam.

For more free educational videos, lessons, and resources, please visit our website: https://whatdoesitmeantobeanamerican.com

Subscribe to our channel: https://bit.ly/JoinToBeAmericans

#AmericanIdentity #ImmigrationStories #StudentSpotlight #DefineAmerican #BeingAmerican

[Music]

My mom came here when she
was seven years old to New York.

My grandfather,
my maternal grandfather

worked for the embassy.

So he was posted in New York,
So they all came to New York

and she's been here ever since.

So 40 something years, I think.

And my dad, he came here for college,

an engineer in San Jose.

So he came, he studied
and he just decided to live here.

And that's my story.

It starts off with my dad
moving here for his job

back in 2003

and that just left me and
my mom back in the Philippines

um for about two years before we moved

to join suit with him and
just join I mean just like live

with him and my grandpa
was already here prior,

but I don't really know
what year he moved.

And yeah,

We just been here since 2005.

Back in Philippines we were taught
English as a second language, right?

And I thought that

coming here to the US

I wouldn't really have
a problem with that.

However, it was really
hard because like

all everybody around me,
like literally,

everybody spoke fluent English and I'm

still just like I know
some words that

they're saying but it's really like

more complex just trying to like

decipher what they're
saying and all that

and it's um, it was hard
going through that process,

but eventually I

I like learn to get along with it to

like conform myself to the society.

So my family comes from
Mexico both my mom and my dad.

And they came over in the 90s and

they met each other like

uh four years after they came over, and

they met each other at work, and then

they got together,
and they had me and yeah.

Both of my parents were born in Egypt

and lived there most of their
lives all the way until college.

They got married in Egypt

and then my father decided
that he wanted to come to America because

it was the land of opportunity
and dreaming and all that.

My mother, they were both obviously like

very torn to leave their family but they,

left everything to come
here so that me and my

siblings could have a better life.

My parents immigrated from

Vietnam to here during the Vietnam war.

So my dad, he came originally from China

in Guangdong near Hong Kong and

during the Vietnam war, he escaped from

China through Vietnam and all the way

through Malaysia as a vote person.

So he went through a lot with his family

and his four older sisters
and his two parents.

My dad and the rest of his sisters

decided they wanted to go to America

and really let their kids
live the American dream

and he was very adamant
about wanting to stay in America

seeing it as this wonderful
country full of opportunities.

So he went here when he was 21

and he had to lie about his age to be
able to go to an American high school.

He went to San Jose high
school which is very close by

and he also graduated from San Jose state

and he really took his
education seriously,

because he really wanted
to provide for his family.

And after everything was
great he had a good job.

He went back to Vietnam and
that's where he met my mom.

And my mom immigrated here
left everything she knew

back in Vietnam and here we are
with three kids and a happy family.