Personal Story
 

Hey guys, it's been a while since I came to this forum. Things just got a little chaotic.
But I just recently took the time to write out my personal story and I wanted to share it and ask for opinions whether it would be a wise choice to keep sharing it or not - a.k.a. does my story benefit the support for Immigration Reform? Can anyone tell me any bad points that the opposition might take and turn it around?
It is a long read, so feel free to choose to read it or not. I would appreciate any comments on it, though.
Thank you!

I posted it in here:
http://www.keepersoftheamericandream...e/story_id/285


~ Novela.

Re: Personal Story
 

Wow, I just read your story! Let me tell you that I admire you tremendously for your courage and for your continuance in believing in the American Dream! Hold on a little bit longer.

It's not over until we say it's over!

Re: Personal Story
 

Thank you so much! =) Your comment warmed my heart! Hehe I'm so cheesy. :P
You are absolutely right! We'll keep on fighting! =) Some of us have no other choice, after all!

Re: Personal Story
 

Your story is truly unique... and reminds me that we should never give up...

Re: Personal Story
 

Loved your story! :) truly lifted me up!
I like knowing that I'm not alone in this fight :-)

I just hope people realize that we have done nothing wrong and it was totally not our decision to do things illegally! I despise the word illegal, I would like to be referred to as "overstayed" instead lol..My parents made a decision without me knowing. They decided to stay, because THEY have a way to become legal nd they do have DL, SS ETC while I DONT UNLESS I GET MARRIED. I really wish they have sent me back earlier when we were legal. I have been here for almost ten years but our visa expired approx 3 years ago...


Our situation is actually doing me good though. It changed me into a better person, a person who appreciates every little blessings that God has given me and never take things for granted. I have higher dreams and goals in life and learned to work 10 times harder than most citizens or legal immigrants.

I just hope that they pass it this year. I can't wait any longer! Like what novela said, we want to be somebody and show what we are capable of. Returning back to a country is not easy especially when we have already established our life here! United States is my home! I can't imagine leaving MY HOME, my friends, family, relatives etc. The worst part is that we would be ban for more than 10 years. Most of the time, more! Not being able to even visit and see people I love and place I love is tragic! I hope people understand us! CIR, I feel is hopeless especially in this economy and the turbulence that the country is going through! I know that many Americans oppose giving legal status to immigrants, but they just don't understand how difficult our life is without the legal status! I feel like a bird trapped in a cage! I really would like to be free, be able to fly and show the world what I can be! This is my country and my home! =(

Re: Personal Story
 

Thanks, guys! I'm glad there are actually some people reading that huge post, haha. I always tend to write too much.
Fern!Baby, don't ever give up. If you give up you are turning yourself in to defeat before you find out if you could've won in the end. Remember, the night is always darkest right before the dawn. We have to go through the worst of it all before we can pick the fruits of our battle. The strongest are the ones who will get to taste victory.

marc, I'm glad I was able to cheer you up! I feel sad and depressed too, and every day that passes it gets harder to fight it, but reading the story of others who understand lifts me up as well. Such a strange creature, the human being. We feel better when we know there's someone suffering just as much as we are. It's in our nature to need company and support in everything we do.
I feel exactly the same way you do. The two sides of this coin that is the situation we are in could not exist one without the other, though, and that is what we need to remember.
Being in this vulnerable and hard position, most of us learned how to be better people, how to appreciate, how to not take for granted the things others of our same age group do. Because of what we've been through, we learned to fight for what we want, instead of waiting for it to come to us, we learned to be leaders and take the initiative when we must. We learned to be compassionate and put ourselves in someone else's shoes before we judge them, because we understand that they might be going through something horrible that others just don't know about - like we are.
We suffer every minute of our existence as undocumented, for the lack of rights, the prejudice, the harsh treatment, the hateful words we get to hear, the depression, the feeling of uselessness and no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel syndrome. Has there been a single day that has passed that we don't think about the DREAM Act, or how our lives could be different if we were legal and had documents? It affects us in so many way, in every aspect of our lives it is present.
But this continuous hardship is what taught us to be who we are today. We are dreaming, hoping, fighting, not giving up, defying the government and the opposition to claim what is our right to have. And when we get it, we will be so much better human beings thanks to this...
So we cannot forget, under any circumstance, that darkness and light walk hand in hand, and cannot exist alone without the other.

I often think to myself, how would I have turned out if I had stayed in Brazil? Or if I had been legal here? And I worry that I wouldn't have turned out this way. I worry that I would've been lazy. That I would've been selfish. And that I would've taken so many things for granted.
Just a thought to give you guys something to think about.

Re: Personal Story
 

It's funny how we all go through the same things and have almost the same thoughts! Agreed to everything you've said and it's like youve read my thoughts!

Re: Personal Story
 

Hey I'm from Brazil also and I read your entire story I understand its hard to live here in these situations that we deal with daily. We just have to keep our heads up and hope for something to happen

Re: Personal Story
 

Hehe thank you, I'm glad.

Thanks Arthur, it was nice getting to talk to you on the chat last night! You are absolutely right. We can't lose hope just yet.

Re: Personal Story
 

It made me tear up in the end. I like it. : )