My parents migrated to new York in 1999 from Egypt. They lived in Egypt their whole lives so coming to America was a huge change in their lives. The reason why they migrated was for a better life for me and my siblings. My mother has 8 siblings and my father has 6 siblings and out of all their siblings they are the only fortunate ones to be able to come to America. This truly makes me think what life would be like if I was living in Egypt like my cousins. I feel like I wouldn't of been able to have accomplish what I have in America If I lived in Egypt. My father was a taxi driver in Egypt and he was fed up with constantly doing the same thing and wanted to expand his potential. So when he came to America he had some friends that were able to get him a job at a grocery store to at least make ends meat. Fast forward 15 years, my father has opened his own suit business and has 2 stores in Manhattan. America is really the land of opportunity. There was only this really bad time during the 9/11 incident where my mother would face a lot of racism walking in the streets because people saw her wearing her hijab. I remember one day this white woman spit on her but my mother didn't realize until she saw her pants. It was disrespectful and made her want to go back to her country, but we stuck it out during the rough time. Even though we moved from country to country me and my siblings were still raised the same way we would have if we lived in Egypt. My mother and father made sure we always did great in school and made sure religion was a huge part in lives. Thank You Mom and Dad.

– ALY ABDEL SALEM

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant