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Coming to America 

My name is Matthania Guillaume. I’m 15 years old, I’m from Haiti, I came here in America when I was 10 years old and this is my story. 

   Living in Haiti at such a young age was not bad, I was living a good life my two parents had jobs, we lived like a normal family should live. I went to one of the top schools in Haiti, I had a lot of friends I was getting good grade and I was living in a nice neighborhood. There was and still has a lot of violence in Haiti, but my dad and my mom did the best they could to protect us from bad things that was happening.  

  Seven years ago, things started to get bad. After my mom just had my little brother, she started getting sick at the time my dad didn’t want me and my sister to worry about it, we thought that it was minor, that it was nothing to worry about. We found out she had breast cancer. At first, I didn’t believe it but when she started to get worst, I was worried cause I was scared that she would live me and my sister, I was scared that she could end up dead. With three Childrens to take care of my dad had to work a lot to provide for us; with my mom sick and him having to pay for medical bills and pay for our schools and paying for someone to take care of us because my mom couldn’t, life was hard for my family. 

  In January 7, 2014, she died, my whole family was devastated, I had to take care of my little brother, I had to learn to take care of myself and help take care of the house at such a young age because with only one parent and living in a country that had little jobs , my dad had to make sure that he could take care of us financially and emotionally.  

  One night our neighbor who lived in America came to visit, and she saw how my dad was struggling with us so she suggested to adopt me and my sister so we could come to America and get a better life and education. My dad didn’t agree with it at first, but he prayed about it and he finally decided to send us to America. Though I was sad cause I was living my family behind, I was excited because I get to come to America and start over. I wanted to see what America was about, I was curious to see if what they say about America was true. 

   Two days before my birthday I came to America. I went to 7th grade. At first, I thought everyone nice because they kept on asking me about Haiti and about the culture there but after a while, I notice that kids were making fun of me because I didn’t speak English very well and because of the way I dressed. My grades were not the best and I was unhappy, I would lie just to not go to schools because I hated schools. For a while I got use to people looking at me weird and saying bad things about. Going to my eight-grade year, in the summer I made sure that I read lot of books and started practicing English. Eight grade year I made sure that I did my work and my grades was starting to look better and I ignore people who were mean to me. I was one of the best students in my class and I felt great about my achievements.   

  Now I’m in the eleven grades, I make sure that I stay positive and be a good person and make friends. My life is not the best but I’m living a life that many teenagers would like to live in and I’m grateful for that. I still struggle, I’ve gone to depression and a lot worse throughout my jurney in America, but America has been good to me in a way and bad at the same time, but I’m thankful. Although my story isn’t the worst story ever, I went through a lot. 

       This is my story, and I’m grateful for it.