Life As An Immigrant

Life as an immigrant is difficult at first, but little by little it changes for the better, at least that's how it was for me. I came to the US in December 1988; I was only 15 years old. Here is my story.

I remember before arriving here the tension I had, because I knew that I would move to a country I didn’t know, an unfamiliar language, that my parents would get separated, that I would leave my father and two brothers in Peru.

I came to the US with my 33-year-old mother, 12-year-old sister and 17-year-old aunt, my mother's sister. As I told you at the beginning, it was difficult. We arrived at another aunt's house in NJ. My mother started working as soon as we arrived, she got a job in a plastic factory, third shift (from 12am to 8am). The plan was to save some money and move ASAP and we did. Before Christmas we already had our own apartment. I remember we didn’t have any power for a week, but we still moved in and we loved our little home. My sister started studying, she was in middle school, my aunt found a job in a computer parts factory and I, a little later, started high school. I got a job at the factory where my mother worked, also third shift but only for a week because I was a minor, and I had to be 18 to work there.

Then, I found another job thanks to some friends, cleaning offices in buildings. I worked from Monday to Friday from 6pm to 10pm for about two years. At the beginning it was very hard because I did not have experience and how much work was involved. I remember that after a few weeks I was already a pro at it. The people who worked there always said that I was too young to work there, and if maybe they were right but I had to work to be able to help my mother with the bills at home. I remember all the money I made at that job I gave to my mother to help pay bills; not that my mother made me, but becauseI knew I should help her. She worked a lot, then later she got a second job from 6pm to 10pm, plus the one at the factory, which was very hard. From the start of the day until it’s end she was on her feet all the time, I knew it because I worked there too.

My mother used to walk from the house to the factory (a long way), she could have taken the bus but she rather walked back and forth to save $ 2.00 a day, and use it to buy bread and eggs in the morning for breakfast at a store called Quick Check on Kearny Avenue. It was very cold at that time, many times it even snowed, but still she did it. Same thing when going grocery shopping, the four of us used to go walking back and forth, so we could buy a little more groceries instead of spending money paying for a cab. This situation helped me to appreciate what I have and what my father had provided in our country.

A few months later we met some Peruvians who we became wonderful friends with. To this day we keep in touch, they helped us a lot; they gave us many things, such as beds, mattresses, furniture, kitchen supplies, etc. They invited us to their house a lot, especially on weekends, we used to have a great time there; they started giving my sister and I a ride to school, giving us a ride on Saturdays for shopping. They often refused my mother’s attempts to pay them for anything, they were very good to us. They always would ask my mother if it was okay for them to come over the house for dinner because they liked how she cooked, but they really wanted to come over to share groceries and gifts for us. My family and I are very grateful for them, they are beautiful people who noticed we were having a hard time and wanted to help. The good thing about all this was that there were many of them, and when we got together we had a very good time, they treated us like family and to this day they call my sister and I daughters.

They helped us to learn the city, find new places to eat, and even helped my mother to find a much better morning job where she was making a little more money. Little by little things were improving.

My mother, being in a better situation, told me not to give her more money and to use it for me, and so I did. I also would buy things for my sister since she was younger. I remember at Christmas I bought her a Super Nintendo, and she was so happy; I bought my mom a small dining room table set for the kitchen, and it felt nice to do that for my family. Shortly after, my mother could go back to my country to bring my two brothers and thank God they did not have to go through what we went through.

In high school I met the father of my children, whom I married when I was only 18 and we had our first son. When I was 19, we had our second child, I later had to stop my studies and take care of my children. For a few years I did not work but then I started working part-time to help with bills, I worked again in factories, restaurants, shoe stores, etc. A few years later I enrolled in school to get a small degree in Business Administration, it was hard to go take care of a family, work and school but I knew I had to do it.

It did help me and I was able to find an office job, I was not making much money but I was very happy with this small achievement, because I had always worked cleaning buildings, working in factories and restaurants. Maybe this is why I appreciate the people who do it, because I know how hard it can be.

In 1998 we separated and I moved to NC. Fortunately, I was able to find a job that later became my career. I worked through the ranks and now proudly manage the department I started with. Although I never thought this was possible when I was younger I am proud of what I achieved.

I have always impressed upon my children how important education is. I always tell them to do everything that I couldn’t do for whatever reason. When they were just kids, I took them to Peru to meet the rest of my family and they were able to see the difference in how they lived and appreciate what they had more.

Years later I met my now husband Andre, it was the best thing that could happen to me. He had two boys when I met him and so did I, together we had a girl. I adore my stepchildren as my own children as he does with mine. I can say that my life is now much better, I am happy, grateful for the beautiful family that I have, grateful my kids did not have to go through what I did, that they are achieving their goals.

Sometimes it is easy to judge immigrants without knowing how hard it is to leave your land, your family, in order to live better and with a more dignified life. I was very young when I moved here and it was not my own decision but my mother’s; she says it was the best decision she made in her life because in my country she was having problems with my father and just wasn't going to be able to make it on her own plus the country was already going through a very tough time.

Before, there were many ways to be able to do your residency and citizenship here, something that no longer exists, and for undocumented immigrants it is very difficult or impossible to become legals even if they want to, but people do not know that and they believe that it is only because they do not want to do it.

I have seen times when people called us names, telling us to go back to our country, treat us with no respect at all, thinking we are all from Mexico, calling us Mexicans like it is a bad thing to be Mexican.

Researching about how to help immigrants I found a program that I started two weeks ago to volunteer in a church helping with immigration issues, such as translating documents, as a notary, helping in their office organizing files, etc., I just want to help and feel that I can do something for my community.

I know I can help just like my friends helped my family.

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