America you really have changed my life for real, you have made me mature more than my peers back home, like every day I keep trying to imagine my life if I was still in Nigeria, I know for sure that if I was still in Nigeria right now I might not even be in school because where would my parents get the money to put me through college, I probably be in a market in a village learning how to trade goods or worst just sit at home being a nuisance and a head ache to my parents or even join a cult and become a problem to my community but every day I thank God for the opportunity of coming to America and having the opportunity to make my own decisions, my own mistakes and take care of myself and even my friends and family back home. Am also really grateful for the education system you got here because you obviously gave me the opportunity to make the decision to go to college and be able to be here writing this with the help of financial aid, if not for this I would probably be working my ass off at a retail store trying to make a living but you gave me an opportunity to come to college and try to better my life and am really great for it.

I don’t really like America like that for real, it’s really not all I expected it to be or how most people from Africa or outside America thinks about it, because like back home people portray America like a stress free land that’s flowing with milk and honey, and most people risk their lives and even kill to just try to come here, I used to believe that, I remember being like really religious when I was told about coming here, I used to go to church like literally every day and be praying  so hard that it works out which finally did work and am grateful for. I had to realize that America is really a do it yourself kind of society and very selfish, which am not saying is a bad thing, in America from like age 15 or 16 a kid could get a job and start taking care of themselves which I don’t think is a bad thing because it makes America a really independent place compared to my country where teenagers even adults too are almost totally dependent on their parents even youths that are 25 which is not really they faults because there’s no job even for people that graduated from college talk more of kids that are 15 or 16, I remember when I was 16 the only money I had was the ones my parents gave me and the only clothes I could wear was the ones my mom got me, I remember having to literally cry and act really hurt before my mom got me my first phone which was trash but I did enjoy it then though compared to now I have the ability to go get a job and buy whatever I want to buy, wear whatever I want to wear and really have whatever phone I want to have as long as am ready to work. But on the contrary life is more fun and less stressful at my country compared to America, America is a really lonely and sad country, like when I was still in Nigeria I dint know what depression was because like I lived in an extended family so there was always someone around to talk to or talk to you because we was all together and it was fun but now in America I barely see my mom and that’s your fault America.

I would forever be grateful to America because it made me who I am today, I just want America to be nice to me, my friends and family and that it changes the justice system because it’s really bad the way the justice system treats black people for real. Also that it finds a different way to handle drug addicts, that it should treat them as patients and not as prisoners and lastly that marijuana is not a harmful drug and it should make it legal to use it in all its states and free all my brothers locked up for it.

America, they could attain their own version of success. To me the American dream meant that it doesn’t matter where am from or how I look that ones I made it to America that I had made it in life, that there was nothing like failure or poverty in America. That what was I thought is the American dream because everyone I knew from my country that came to America came back really successful (like with a degree or is a professional in something) or with a lot of money (probably from drug dealing or scamming people) so I had that mindset that it would be really impossible to set your foot in America and 

end up a failure. But I really got to under stand that to attain or achieve the  American dream it requires a lot of sacrifice, a lot of risk taking and hard work, and that it is not the same for everyone. The American dream is not accessible for everyone because if you don’t have a permanent residency, a green card or a work permit, or if you not with your right papers America 

will really be hell for you and the American dream is definitely not for you because without your ability to work or move freely without being scared

of the DHS, without being able to get healthcare there’s no American dream because the real American dream is being able to go to work and earn your own money, be able to take care of yourself and your family, being independent and having healthcare to me is really what is the American dream and sadly not every immigrant or people that come to America are able to experience the American dream because maybe they don’t have there right papers or don’t have a social security number which really hinders them from doing a lot of things. so it’s definitely not attainable to everyone.

My experience with immigration was really scary, so my grandmother filled for my whole family to come to America in 2006 I could remember then when we got the letter from immigration to start the process me and my younger brother started practicing on how to speak American

thinking that we would leave like very soon we stopped paying attention in school and was always disturbing everyone that we was going to America, we both wanted to be astronauts because my grandmother brought this book back about astronauts and we both were so hooked to the book that we wanted to be like those astronauts and we thought that coming to America was already a straight ticket to becoming astronauts but that wasn’t the case, years and years pass by we would ask our parents when we would be going to America and they would always tell us that they still processing it, it came to a point where we literally forgot about it and already moved on with our lives

till this faithful day in 2015 we received an email from the immigration 

to start processing our papers again, , so I had to give up going forward to a college or university because I was just focused on coming to America, I almost regretted it because there were a lot of delays on our papers and it took us two years to finish the process, at this time my mates were at their

second year in college and I was sitting down at home all that time, so it made depressed and really drew me closer to God then because I only just had one prayer point which was just to come to America and God finally answered.

I feel like without immigrants there would be no American dream, because I believe that it really is the immigrants that do really believe in the American

dream and make it work for them because people born here already kind of have everything given to them but immigrant really be the ones that work for the American dream or get motivated off of the American dream because 

they already have that feeling at the back of there mind that they cannot be failure no matter what. Also, immigrants have a huge role to play in making 

America because they the ones who would accept to do what ever job that 

Americans call dirty to survive and its those dirty jobs that 

America is built on and for them to do those jobs to survive to me is the real American dream

 

 

America, they could attain their own version 

of success. To me the American dream meant that it doesn’t matter where am from or how I look that ones I made it to America that I had made it in life, that there was nothing like failure or poverty in America. That what was I thought is the American dream because everyone I knew from my country that came to America came back really successful (like with a degree or 

is a professional in something) or with a lot of money (probably from drug dealing or scamming people) so I had that mindset that it would be really impossible to set your foot in America and end up a failure.

But I really got to under stand that to attain or achieve the American dream it 

requires a lot of sacrifice, a lot of risk taking and hard work, and that it is not the same for everyone. The American dream is not accessible for everyone because if you don’t have a permanent residency, a green card or a work permit, or if you not with your right papers America will really be hell for you and the American dream is definitely not for you because without your 

ability to work or move freely without being scared of the DHS, without being able to get healthcare there’s no American dream because the real American

dream is being able to go to work and earn your own money, be able to take care of yourself and your family, being independent and having healthcare to me is really what is the American dream and sadly not every immigrant or people that come to America are able to experience the 

American

dream 

because maybe they don’t have there right papers or don’t have a social security number which 

really hinder

s them from doing a lot of things.

so it’s definitely not attainable to everyone.

My experience with immigration was really scary, so my grandmother filled for my whole 

family to come to 

America

in 200

6

I could remember then when we got the letter from 

immi

gration to start the process me and my younger brother started practicing on how to speak 

American

thinking that we would leave like very soon we stopped paying attention in school and 

was always disturbing everyone that we was going to 

America

, we both wa

nted to be 

astronauts

because my grandmother brought this book back about 

astronauts

and we both were s

o

hooked to 

the book that we wanted to be like those 

astronauts

and we thought that coming to 

America

was 

already a straight ticket to becoming 

astronaut

s

but that wasn’t the case, years and years pass by 

we would ask our parents when we would be going to America and they would always tell us 

that they still processing it, it came to a point where we literally forgot about it and already 

moved on with our 

lives

till this faithful day in 2015 we received an email from the immigration 

to start processing our papers again, , so I had to give up going forward to a college or university 

because I was just 

focused on coming to 

America

, I almost regretted it because there were a lot 

of delays on our papers and it took us two years to finish the process, at this time my mates were 

at 

their

second year in college and I was sitting down at home all that time, so it made depressed 

and reall

y drew me closer to God then because I only just had one prayer point which was just to 

come to 

America

and God finally answered.

I feel like without immigrants there would be no 

American

dream, because I believe that it really 

is the immigrants

that

do 

re

ally

believe in the 

American

dream and make it work for them

because people born here already kind of have everything given to them but immigrant really be 

the ones that work for the 

American

dream or get 

motivated

off of the 

American

dream because 

they al

ready have that feeling at the back of there mind that they cannot be failure no matter 

what. 

Also,

immigrants have a huge role to play in making 

America

because they the ones who 

would accept to do what ever job that 

Americans

call dirty to survive and it

s those dirty jobs that 

America

is built on and for them to do those jobs to survive to me is the real 

American

dream

 

 

All through the book she talks about different pains and struggles, like her they struggled to live everyday even though her mom was working 3 jobs and like 16 hours a day they still was struggling. Another of her pain would be when her brother was treated like a terrorist when he was supposed to be treated like a patient and shown love, so I think that that really hurt and also like how brother who was already going through his own problems was also molested in jail and there was really nothing she could do about it. Also how she was treated in her two schools and also how she was locked up at the age of 12 and her having to go to prison at that young age would be a huge part of her pain and struggle as a youth, but I also think it also helped add to her power as a strong black woman right now who doesn’t only believe that her lives matter but also lives her life now trying to help others know and believe that their lives also matter