| 2005 Creative Writing Contest Finalists | |
| Last updated August 17, 2005 | |
 Immigration to me is the way everything came to be. People came from all over the world bringing with them their languages and cultures. They told us about what it would be like to be in their shoes. From the British to the French, from the Chinese to the Mongolians we all have our own stories. You could be the great general who lead his army to win a war, or you could be the simple house wife taking care of three kids; no matter what it is, your story is who you are and it is important. Now, my story comes from many places, my ethnicity is wide ranged. My ancestors on my father’s side of the family came from Norway and Sweden and from Scotland. On the other side, my mothers’ family came from England. They traveled to the United States on sailboats. I don’t know much about where they all lived, maybe in the city, or in a castle, or maybe on a simple farm near the rolling green hills. Immigration is what made the United States what it is with so much diversity. Without immigration the United States would be a ghost town. Immigration is important because how else could we meet people with different backgrounds and traditions. How else could we learn about other languages, and places or hear stories about things that no longer exist. Immigrants may have built our houses or made beautiful art that we like to admire. We shouldn’t stop and look at their works just because we like and enjoy them, but because of whom the people are that brought them to us. A painting could be the very first of a young artist hoping to sell his art for money on the streets; or the work of a very famous artist in the old country who immigrated here and left all of his other work behind with his former life. No matter what the case, we should be admiring these things because they are unique. The same goes for people. We shouldn’t make fun of the new kid with the funny accent we should welcome them and tell him a little about ourselves. Without immigration, silk from China, pieroges from Poland, painted eggs from Russia, Spanikopita from Greece, kimonos from Japan would not be things that I know about. Almost everyday, we eat and see things adapted from other cultures. Immigration made me possible. I might not be living here enjoying all the freedoms in this country if my ancestors had not chosen to come to this country. So, I am glad immigration is allowed. I am very happy that immigration brought my friends here to the United States. Immigration has helped to keep me interested in meeting new people, learning their stories and what they have to say about my story. Immigration makes me unique.
(Irish Immigrants board ship to America)
A petrifying life they lived,
“America, America, God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy hood with brotherhood from sea to shiny sea”. My mother always tears up when she sings, America the Beautiful. I never understood why, I just thought she was emotional. Then one day she told me how she, her mother and sister had come from Cuba when she was a little girl. She told me how she had stood in line for hours for food rations when she lived in Cuba. How people in her neighborhood had “disappeared” or had been put in prison for speaking against the Communist government. How she was separated from her father for 13 years before he was released from Cuba. Then she hugged me and told me how lucky we were to live in the US. As Americans we can protest if we want to. We can believe in whatever religion we wanted to. We can speak our minds. We can get an education. We can do great things for ourselves and those around us. Our great nation did not happen all of a sudden. Our great nation happened because of immigrants. Americans are all immigrants. We can all trace our roots back to some immigrant who landed on these shores hoping for something better. Our nation is a great nation because we have ties to the entire through our immigrants. It doesn’t matter if you are from Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa or any other part of the world because wherever you are from you can always contribute to making America an even greater place. Just like the song says “crown thy hood with brotherhood”, we are a brotherhood of immigrants, that is why I am glad America is a nation of immigrants.
I am glad that America is a nation of immigrants because I have many friends from Spanish-speaking countries. The first one is named Jose. Sometimes during the week, I will visit him at Panera Bread where he works as a cashier. Jose wears square glasses, always has a tan shirt, and best of all, he always wears a smile. Jose has a big heart full of enthusiasm. My next friend is named Augusto. Augusto works as a janitor at my school. He has a giving heart, and he always says hi to me, even if it is two minutes later than the first time he said it. August doesn’t have hair; he is polite and always has his shirt tucked in with a belt, and his smile can cheer anyone up. My third friend is Javier. Javier always wears a blue and white striped shirt with dark blue or black plants. He has black curly hair. I feel sorry for him because he is also a janitor at my school and he is constantly cleaning up mud out of the bathrooms because children come in from recess and they have gone in the mud to get a ball. So, he gets stuck cleaning up after whoever did it. My fourth friend is from Venezuela. Her name is Hayleen. Hayleen has black silky hair that goes to her shoulders; she wears high heels a lot, and she has glasses. Hayleen is fun because she works as a substitute teacher at my school. When Hayleen substitutes at my school in my class, she constantly tells us to get things done and then we can do things we want to do. Sometimes Hayleen will come up to me, she will say hi, and then she will hug me. When I am around Hayleen, I feel like nothing can go wrong because she is there to shield bad spirits away. My last friend is from Mexico, her name is Lupita. Lupita is my fifth grade teacher, and she is a lot like Hayleen. She is happy 99% of the time, and 1% of the time, she is even happier. She has dark brown and mahogany hair, and she always wants to do something that my classmates and I would consider fun. She is always in a good mood, and in my opinion, she is smarter than any Albert Einstein. These people have made differences in my life. For example, Lupita teaches my classmates and me in ways that actually help us learn Like I said before, Hayleen urges us to move on and get our work done and do something fun and creative like color or draw. Jose has changed my life because every time I walk into Panera Bread, he sees me and there’s a smile on his face… It’s the same with Augusto. If I see him while I’m feeling down, he smiles and I’m cheery again. That is why I’m glad that America is a nation of immigrants.
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