For my Capstone, I wanted to find a way to further educate people on the impacts of education poverty and the ways in which raising spending on education (particularly from the federal government) would help the country’s overall prosperity. I decided to create a website as I felt I could put the skills I’ve learned at SLA as well as my previous high school to use in the best way. I also conducted a survey in which I asked participants different questions about education poverty and school budgets/funding and I used those results to further my point in creating this website. Attached is the link to my website.

Introduction:

What I’d like the reader to take away from this essay is the significance of the seemingly insignificant aspects of immigration regarding how immigrants are viewed in society. Without looking at all aspects of immigration, it is impossible to get a solid understanding of what life is like for immigrants.

Essay:

Immigrants and Their Everlasting Attachment

A man stands looking into the path in front of him. His daughter is sitting on his shoulders; she looks to be no more than three. Their clothing is dirty, and trash lay on the ground behind them. Rundown homes are in the distance. They have just arrived in a new country after enduring a difficult journey. They were forced to say goodbye to their homeland, and hello to a foreign country in which they know nothing about. They had to leave all they have ever known for something completely foreign to them. Although this is their new home, they will always hold a special connection to their home country. This lasting attachment that immigrants have to their homeland is an aspect of immigration that is not always talked about and is often overlooked. The everlasting feeling they get when they think about their home country is something that very few can understand, as it is impossible to fully understand something without actually experiencing it. A few works that touch on this subject in order to help others understand the feeling, however, include the book Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, the film Beasts of the Southern Wild by Lucy Alibar, and the article “A Return to Nigeria” by Enuma Okoro.

Each immigrant has their own story, history, and longing for their country which makes understanding their struggles very difficult. There can either be a specified reason for one’s deep attachment to their homeland, or it can simply just be. An example of this is in Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid when Saeed and Nadia are preparing to flee from their home country and seek refuge and they are faced with the fact that Saeed’s father will not be escaping with them. Upon asking his father why his father responds with, “‘Your mother is her.’ Saeed said, ‘Mother is gone.’ His father said, ‘not for me’ (Hamid 95). Although he had the chance to, he refused to leave his wife, who had died, behind. She was buried in that country, therefore he must stay there. The connection Saeed’s father developed for his country was so much deeper than imaginable that he would rather risk his safety, let alone his life, in order to remain in the place his wife was buried. In this case, his wife being buried there strengthens the connection he has to the country, even though he already had a deep connection there before. His reason for staying is unique to him, as is anyone’s reason. It is not necessarily the country itself that he is connected to, it is what the country holds that deeply resonates with him. Although Saeed’s father ultimately stayed and is not an immigrant, he is the perfect example as to how if one were to leave their home country, their attachment and resonance to that country would remain with them throughout their whole life.

Similarly, in the film Beasts of the Southern Wild by Lucy Alibar, after the community is evacuated and brought to the dry land in attempts to “save” them, they all find a way to escape back to their land even though it is seen as unsuitable by those in the dry land. They had a deep connection to their home as there was a great sense of community that was unfulfilled during the time they spent in the dry land. Although they returned to run down, unsustainable shack-like homes, they regained their sense of belonging, which is often a leading reason as to why immigrants have such an attachment to their homeland.

Another example as to how belonging plays a role in the lasting attachment immigrants have to their home country is demonstrated in the article, “A Return to Nigeria” by Enuma Okoro. Enuma had spent only a small portion of her life in Nigeria before her family immigrated to the United States. She had grown up without feeling connected to her home country or feeling like she wanted to return. That was until she had to return to bury her father, as it is custom in Igbo culture to bury oneself in their country of origin. She reminisces, “I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that there was a land and a people that rightfully claimed me. Choosing to ignore that seemed oddly irresponsible…” (Okoro 2). Okoro had always struggled with her identity, as she felt should could not label herself as Nigerian nor American as she did not fully resonate with either of those cultures. Upon returning to Nigeria, she realized that there is a whole village that knows her name and knows who she is and is accepting of her. That feeling was something she never had in America. After contemplating it for a while, Okoro finally decided to give up her first world lifestyle, buy a one-way ticket, and move to Nigeria, which remains a poor, developing country. Okoro is the perfect example of how strong the sense of belonging and attachment can be for immigrants, even if they do not initially feel that sense of longing for their homeland.

Although discussing the attachment that immigrants have to their country of origin may seem insignificant compared to other aspects of immigration, it is very necessary to look further into it because it allows the public to attempt to understand the effects immigration has on immigrants and their wellbeing. If those who make laws about immigration do not even understand the severity of all aspects of immigration, it is not fair for them to make laws limiting resources and safety precautions for immigrants. There are a lot of components to the immigration crisis and there are many different opposing opinions, however, if one were to look at the seemingly insignificant parts of immigration, as these writers have done, it is clear to see that it goes much deeper than just “wanting to come to America.” It is not an easy decision for immigrants to make to leave their country, and only do so when necessary for their own safety and future, as they know the feeling of attachment will linger for their lifetime.

Works Cited

Alibar, Lucy. Beasts of the Southern Wild. Hamid, Mohsin. Exit West. Penguin Random House, 2017. Okoro, Enuma. “A Return to Nigeria.” The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2014. Oxfam. “7 Ways You Can Help Refugees Right Now.” Oxfam, 13 Jan. 2020, www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/7-ways-you-can-help-refugees-right-now/.

The main goal of my essay was to be able to be open and share something that is very important to me. I wanted to be able to make people step back and become aware of everything and everyone that they have. One thing that I am very proud of in the essay is how I was able to be very transparent and write about a time in my life that was really hard. One way I would like to improve my writing technique is by expanding my vocabulary and figuring out how to not repeat the same words over and over again.

My mom had just left the house not even two minutes ago, yet there she was, banging on our front door. I peered out of our front window, remembering all the things my parents had told me about opening the door for strangers. Pressing my nose up on the glass, as my warm breath began to fog it, I saw my mom, standing on our front steps with her hand in her hair, tears dripping down her face, shaking ever so slightly. I watched her struggle with her keys, hearing the faint jingle through the window. I leaped up and ran to open the door, confused as to what had happened. As I unlatched our lock and opened the door, watching as the light from outside flooded the living room, I saw the flashing ambulance lights across the street. Time felt like it was moving in slow motion. A million thoughts went through my mind, one after the other; my mind racing so intensely that I could barely breathe. My mom, still trembling, walked into the house, and as she tried to pull herself together, uttered, “he had a heart attack.” Not sure how to respond, I asked if he would be alright. That’s when she told me the ambulance didn’t make it in time. He was gone before the paramedics got there. He was breathing one minute, and the next, he was gone. We had just had dinner with him a few nights ago. How could he be gone in such a short amount of time? He was just here. Alive. Healthy. Breathing. Within minutes, his life was taken. His voice never to be heard again, and the sound of his footsteps on the hardwood floor was only a faint memory.

I never realized something like this could happen so close to home. You hear about these stories on T.V., but you never expect them to happen to you, and when they do, they are heart-wrenching. Seeing my brother’s friend lose a dad at such a young age is an image that is planted in my mind that I will never be able to get rid of. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain and heartache they felt and still feel. A whole piece of their family puzzle has been taken away, never to be returned. A family is not complete when such an important figure is taken from a family. My brother’s friend went to bed the night before, expecting to wake up and live another typical day, but instead, he lost his father. The father who raised him, cared for him, and loved him. Not only did their family lose someone very important, but our community did as well. He was one of the most influential and active members of our community and losing him impacted us all. I’ll never forget everything he did for my family, and I wish more than anything that he didn’t have to go. I don’t even remember the last thing I said to him, because I didn’t think it’d be the last time I’d speak with him. You never expect the last time to be the last time. I can’t remember what his voice sounded like or how he laughed. It’s the little things that seem so small when someone’s alive, that are most important when they’re dead.

I think of all the times I fight with my parents or don’t fully appreciate everything they do for me, and sometimes I think of what would happen if they died a few minutes later? What would happen if we fought and then my mom went to the store and got into a car accident? I would be crushed and I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself. It’s normal to fight and bicker, but it’s also so important to never leave angry, or go to bed mad because you never know when it’s going to be someone’s last day. Too often, people fail to appreciate certain things in their life; whether it’s family or food, there is a lack of gratitude. When someone is given so much, they often take many things for granted and if they suddenly lose the people and things they once took for granted, then they live with that burden for the rest of their life. Life is constantly busy and stressful, however, it’s important to sometimes take a step back to realize and appreciate everything that you have, because there are so many amazing things in life that you don’t realize you have until their gone.