Brenda Berenice Sanchez Avila is a 45-year-old woman who immigrated to the united states around ten years ago at the age of 35. She has had to face several challenges with one of them being the language barrier. In her own words, she describes how “it has been difficult because, when I got here I didn’t speak any English". She also had to overcome the challenge of moving here as an adult with a well-established life in Mexico; arguably be one of the hardest things to get accustomed to because of the culture shock that happens; with Brenda often saying how hard it was to get used to the customs here. Yet, even with all of those challenges and obstacles, she has been able to build a life here that she’s proud of. She has been able to obtain her green card, her citizenship, and she even graduated from college in 2019 at the age of 43.
Brenda was born in Irapuato, Mexico in 1976, she grew up alongside 7 of her siblings, her being the 6th one for a total of 8 kids. Growing up, Brenda and her siblings grew up with only their mother as their parental figure; however, this didn’t stop her from dreaming big, with dreams of moving away to different countries and exploring the world. Brenda also always looked different from her siblings and the other kids she grew up around, being born with pale skin, blonde hair, and striking blue eyes. Looking different from the other kids brought her attention from the people around her. People often told her she looked Russian, and people who had just met her would be shocked at the sound of her speaking Spanish. Years later, Brenda got married, and within four years, she immigrated to another country for the first time. Along with her two kids and husband, she immigrated to the country of Russia. Just as other people had asked her if she was Russian during her younger years, she moved to Russia out of pure coincidence. Yet, this emphasizes something Brenda is always saying “Siempre llama las cosas que quieres y vendrán”, which means “always call the things that you want, and they will come”.
After Russia, Brenda moved back to Mexico where she had her third child. 7 and a half years later Brenda along with her family decided to move to a new country, the United States. More specifically Waco, Texas, this however also presented a bigger challenge for Brenda. Simply because, unlike Russia, this move to the United States was going to last much longer. She first arrived here in July of 2011, quickly moving into an apartment with her family. During the first years of the change, Brenda struggled with her English and the language barrier that she encountered every day. However, even with not knowing English, Brenda decided to go back and finish school just as she had always dreamed. She started out taking classes at Calvary church in Waco and completed her GED in the year 2016. Soon after, Brenda joined Mclennan community college and graduated in 2019 with an assistant degree in accounting. Once again achieving one of her long-held dreams.
Even though the language barrier produced some problems, Brenda was able to learn a concrete amount of English, and along with her family, they decided to enter the long process of becoming naturalized citizens of the United States. A process that lasted the family over eight years to complete. Before becoming citizens the family had to become permanent residents first, Brenda and her husband spent days and weeks organizing their papers, and 5 years after moving here they obtained their green cards. However, it wouldn’t be until four years later in the year 2020, that Brenda was able to obtain her citizenship. She often expressed how thankful she was to be able to obtain it often saying it’s “one of my biggest accomplishments”.
Throughout her time here Brenda has been able to not only form a new life for herself, but she has also obtained her permanent residency and her citizenship; which, is something many immigrants dreams of obtaining. She also managed to obtain her GED and eventually obtained her associate's degree. From the moment she arrived here she decided to step up and do everything in her power to not let the fact she had no actual knowledge of the language and culture slow her down. In her own words, Brenda describes being an immigrant with “For me being an immigrant means adapting to the country that is adopting you”. Which is something that resonates with immigrants all over the country like myself. 
No comments:
Post a Comment