Into the Unknown
“You know, it’s weird. Most people look forward to coming to America. There this hopefulness that they will get better opportunities and live a better life. Yet, the moment my parents told me about migrating to the U.S., I could see the bleakness that was waiting for me there,” Fatima murmured to me moments before I started to record the interview. The journey hasn’t been ideal. Fatima still questions her purpose here. There’s a certain air of ambiguity that she still feels after nearly a decade since she moved to the U.S. It was during her sophomore year in high school when her parents dropped the bomb shell that they are moving to the U.S. as her dad had to stay there to complete his residency. She couldn’t accept the fact that she was leaving her school in Bangladesh, where she had studied for the past 12 years. She was moving to Rochester leaving behind the wonderful life she had in Bangladesh. It was a struggle for her, she said,” I never really fit in. I guess it was partly my fault. There was subtle racism, but overall it was my mental state. I just kept struggling to form a new platform,” Her first three years never really changed. The endless sadness and anger remained. But as years passed by, Fatima gradually accepted life here and started to enjoy whatever her environment had to offer. She now looks set to continue her studies in genetic engineering.

– Abid Ali

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