By: Cristy Avila

What familiarized me with a TV show about 5 immigrants who came to the United States (In the Mix's "Teen Immigrants: Five American Stories") is that when I got to the United States, I felt restrained and a sense of dread. I couldn't communicate or go shopping by myself because of my fear that I didn't speak English. I came to live with my sister in San Francisco in 1998. In the same year I went to Newcomer High School, where I learned a little bit of English. While I was there I felt comfortable because I was with youth who spoke Spanish. Once I got out from Newcomer, they sent me to a regular school where they spoke only English. I thought I got out to the real world because I had to depend on myself. With time I made friends from different parts of the world, and I told myself that I should start to make friends from different cultures and at the same time I would be practicing my English. Now I have diverse friends and I feel happy because now I can talk and show them the beauty of my culture. All this gives me more spirit to continue. It also motivates me to learn other languages so I can communicate with other people in their own language. Now I'm in a country that offers a lot opportunities and I have the advantage of being an American citizen. This helps me a lot and I would like everybody to have this advantage. Although it's just a simple paper, it means a lot to be a citizen of the United States. This is a paper that every immigrant needs to establish a better life in the United States. But we can do well with or without it as well.

Lo que me familiariza con la pelicula es de que cuando llege aqui me sentia cohibida y temerosa. No podia comunicarme, salir de compras por mi misma por mi temor de que no hablabla Ingles. Yo vine a este pais a San Francisco a vivir con mi hermana en 1998. En ese mismo ano entre ala escula Newcomer donde aprendi un poco de Ingles. Me sentia bien porque estaba con jovenes de que hablaban mi idioma. Pero una ves saliendo de ahi, yo pienso que sali al mundo real porque ya tenia que depender mas de mi misma en la escuela regular donde hablaban solamente Ingles. Una vez haciendo amigos de diferentes culturas me dije a mi misma que tenia que relacionarme mas con gente que no habla mi idioma asi me iba ayudar a aprender sobre otras culturas diferentes a la mia y al mismo tiempo iba a practicar mi Ingles. Ahora tengo amigos de diferentes partes del mundo y me siento contenta por que ahora me puedo comunicar y les puedo demostrar y hablarles hacerca de mi cultura. Y esto me da más animo a seguir adelante y me motiva a aprender otros idiomas para poder comunicarme y ayudar a otras personas en su propio lenguage.

Ahora que estoy en un pais que ofrese tantas oportunidades y que tengo la ventaja de ser ciudadana cosa que me ayuda muchisimo y que me gustaria que todos tubieran este papel que solo es un papel pero que se ignifica mucho en este pais, para que todos vinieran a superarse y a establecer una viada mejor.