For Shalany, the transition from her home country to the United States at age thirteen was a period of overwhelming change, defined by the challenges of a new language, a different culture, and an unfamiliar environment. While her family brought her here specifically to escape the struggles of the educational system back home, the weight of that decision wasn't immediately clear to her as a teenager. An object that now anchors this experience is her high school diploma.
To Shalany, this document is far more than a record of grades; it is the physical manifestation of her parents' motivation and the "reason why" they left their homeland. It serves as proof that the harsh process of adapting to a new country was worth the struggle. While she initially arrived without a clear vision of the American Dream, seeing the U.S. not as a perfect place, but simply as a different one, the process of earning this diploma helped her realize the magnitude of her parents' courage.
She notes that the biggest shift in her life wasn't just the geography, but her own maturity. As a child, she didn't fully grasp the value of opportunity; as a graduate in New York, she sees her future through the lens of her parents’ hard work. Today, the diploma stands as a symbol of her family’s perseverance, representing both the end of her initial struggle to belong and the beginning of a future that would not have been possible otherwise.

– CM

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child