I, Angela Cardona, from the country of Guatemala, was born in 2005,
now 18 years old. Eldest daughter of my parents, older sister of my
3 brothers, now living in Massachusetts studying 11th grade at Lynn
Classical High School. I have been through many things. When I was born, I
had a problem with my foot. My parents were very happy because I was the
first daughter, but shortly after I was born, they realized the problem I had.
They did everything possible to help me.

At the age of 7, I started to study. I was very happy with my family. They were
always there for me. They always supported me and they still continue to
support me. As time went by, I saw the world in a different way, learning new
things, wanting to become independent and take care of myself. People's
comments were always about the disability that I had. I would hear things
like I wouldn't achieve anything and that everything would be very difficult
for me. Regardless of the comments, I made the decision to emigrate to the
United States wanting to have a better future, have better opportunities, and to show people that a disability is not an obstacle to being someone in life.
The only thing I wanted was for people to realize that it is not because of an
obstacle that one leaves one's dreams behind. Many said that coming to the
United States was not for us who did not know the language, but after all
that I left all those comments behind and I said that I would not be the only
person to be in this country. There were more people like me.

I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia realizing that some things that people said
were not easy, but I was already here. I stayed with a cousin of my Mom
and though I had never seen her, she treated me well. I worked with her
some time later and I started studying. It was a somewhat bad experience because I didn't understand the language. I had to study with some teach-
ers who treated me badly for not understanding English. There were class-
mates from different countries and not everyone helped me. I met some other students who were from Haiti and they did help me and told me that
we did not have to be envious or racist towards other people, that we all had the right to be in this country. After a few months, I moved here to Massa-
chusetts. I traveled alone from Atlanta to Lynn. I came to live with my moth-
er's sister and a new stage of my life began in another state with different people. I started studying. I felt strange but at the same time I felt good.
Here there were more people speaking Spanish, but the bad thing was that I
didn't have friends and I didn't talk to anyone. Despite all of this, I felt a little
more confident and I felt that we were all capable and had the opportunity
to be in this country.

We who are here are all American and we all deserve to be in any country
if we are willing to work hard, bring in other opportunities, and be grateful.
Despite the difficulties, despite the many problems that one finds along the
way, we all deserve to be here. Sooner or later you will see the achievements and the purpose for which one decides to emigrate. Like me now, I am see-
ing the achievement, I am seeing that I am overcoming my challenges and obstacles day by day, and the reason for all that is my family, my future, and
my progress from day to day.

© Angela . All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.