Assignment: My Immigration Story

MY IMMIGRANT LIFE by Paola 

 I am an immigrant because a year and a half ago I moved from my country of Ecuador. I was a dentist in Ecuador. All my life I have liked this career, but due to situations I had to leave everything behind in my country, When I got here, I thought life would be easier but I realized that it is not as simple as it seems. When I got here, I realized that I don't have friends or my maternal family nearby, who were the ones I grew up with. but I have a phrase that always makes me get ahead "EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON". This phrase has made me always get ahead of everything I have to experience. 

 In 2021, to enter this country, we had a three months limit. I had to leave everything behind in Ecuador because we got the residency and my family's dream was always to come live here, so it was three months of stress to leave everything there to start here from zero. I felt very excited to come to a new country to discover because my idea was always to come for only two years and then I was would do my specialty in pediatric dentistry in Chile. 

 We arrived in this country in December when the weather was cold all the time and we were locked up at home. It was the most frustrating thing that happened when we arrived in this country. The only places we went out were to the stores to see things but without money, because in reality I came without money. My parents brought me and I depended on them financially and it was very embarrassing to ask them to give me money. 

 Also, when we arrived here, I had to start working in something that I don't like - a warehouse in one of the largest companies in the world called "Amazon". I started in Pennsylvania where the work was boring but easy because we were only in charge of storing clothes in different bins. The people there spoke Spanish, something that was much easier for me because it is my first language. Months passed and we decided to get to know the state of Connecticut because one of my dad's cousins lives here and we really liked the place, so we decided to move here and make all the changes and start from scratch again. 

I took a job transfer in Amazon and I realized that the work here was heavier and more difficult with more technology in the area where I have training. There were days when things were too heavy here. I hurt my sciatic nerve and my shoulders, and I also started to get stressed, and I started biting my lips. because of the anxiety I had with all the changes I had been through. 

I am finally realizing that I must learn to prioritize my goals and my mental health, neither work nor any person should suffer stress or anxiety because these illnesses are too exhausting for life, but my immigrant story continues until I am able to standardize my career and be completely independent.