Imagine having to leave your home. Your living conditions at home can no longer support your family and so you decide to start again in a new country. This is the biggest step you will take in your life and you’re not sure whether it will even pay off. You throw yourself into a new culture with a language you do not know yet. You will leave all your family behind in your country other than your wife/husband and children, who will embark on this life-changing journey with you. The outcome of your decision to move is unknown to you, but it’s the best chance you have of providing your family with a better life. The life that you are imagining for yourself in is the life of an immigrant. The decision to leave your home country and travel into a strange, new land is not an easy one and yet it is a decision many make.

The pursuit of a better life led our parents to America. We are the children of immigrants and many of us are immigrants ourselves. We have traveled thousands of miles to be where we are today and every step of the way we have faced challenges that we have had to overcome and many that we continue to overcome today. Our lives in America are much better than what they could ever have been in our home country and we are thankful for that, but we have fought hard along with our parents to get to where we are today.

The most obvious challenge of being an immigrant in a new country is learning the language, and English is not one of the easier ones to master. The amount of effort that goes into learning English is incredible and time has to be found for classes between work and caring for your family. Coming to America as a child makes learning the language easier, especially since you are submerged in the language and culture at school. However, learning the language as an adult is tricky. No matter how hard you try to become fluent in the language you will likely always have an accent and this has consequences. People don’t generally take you as seriously when they hear your accent, and some people discriminate against you because they are not tolerant of the fact that you are an immigrant.

There are many other forms of discrimination that you face as an immigrant. A phrase we have heard time and time again when we speak even a single sentence in our native language is, “Speak English, you’re in America.” This is an ignorant comment that many people have used against us when they have felt uncomfortable not knowing what we were saying. Many times we do not realize that we have switched languages. This may seem impossible to some, however there are times when the best way to express ourselves is in the other language and we switch from English to Portuguese without even noticing. We can agree that it’s uncomfortable being around people who are speaking a language you don’t understand, but it does not mean that the people speaking the other language are using it so that they can talk badly about someone. It is not fair to demand that someone let go of their language simply because it makes others feel insecure being around them.

The first language we knew is the one we spoke to our families. It is the one through which we learned the world. Why not take the opportunity to learn from the people whose language you do not speak and maybe even become bilingual yourself? Instead of tearing each other down, can we learn how to help each other, because where will hatred get us?

The hardest part of being an immigrant is the fact that we live like citizens and yet many of us aren’t. Many reactions to this may be along the lines of , “why didn’t you come into the country the legal way to begin with?” Or, “if you’re not happy then leave!” As much as these comments sting, they are just a part of the life we lead as immigrants. To those who think like that, we can assure you that we would like nothing more than to have come on the path that could have led us to be citizens today. Sadly, that is not where life has led us. Many adults direct awful, harsh comments at us about who we are, but we are only kids, and we did not ask to be where we are today.

But we couldn’t be happier that we are. We are delighted to be in America. This is a nation of equal rights and laws, and everyone who is living here hopes to better themselves. We are proud to be here.

Customs in America are very different than those our parents knew when they were growing up, and sometimes this is difficult. We, the children, are often in the position of educating our parents about how to function in this very different world.

Despite all the challenges we face, we are constantly presented with wonderful opportunities, such as becoming fluent in two languages, which open a world of opportunities beyond school to us. We are able to enjoy the best of two cultures and become more tolerant of the differences between ourselves and others. We are offered a better life in this country through education, living conditions and experiences. We will always be grateful for the sacrifices that our parents have made to give us the life. We are not ashamed of who we are and we can take whatever harsh comments people will throw our way because in the end we are proud of who we are and how far we have come.

Not everyone in our class has the same experiences to share. One of the American students in our class decided to learn more about Brazil and to learn Portuguese after she noticed that a group of students in her class always sat together and were often resented for not speaking English. She wants to learn their language in the way that they had to learn hers. Another student who was born in the United States of Brazilian parents and who has strong friendships in both cultures commented that his whole life he had been “making the switch” from one culture to the other. It is more than language that changes: it’s values, ideas, customs. What have we all learned from this experience of being the children of immigrants in a new world?

We are not judgmental and we do not stereotype. We know that Not all Brazilians love rice and beans and not every American is rushing to McDonalds.

This piece was a collaborative writing effort by the Brazilian history culture class at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Amadine Muniz was the editor. Other student writers are: Jason Lages, Gabe Nunes, Taynara Goncalves, Celena Guimares, Marcelle da Souza Alves, Josh and Justin Tate, Sheron DeMedeiros, ShyAnn Simon, Cesar Buenos, Lauren Bond, Marlla Lemos, Amadine Muniz and Sam Hargy. The teacher is Elaine Cawley Weintraub. The class was created in 2010 with a focus on education about Brazil and building a more tolerant community at the high school. The class organizes the annual Brazilian-American Friendship Lunch, an event that received a national award last spring.