Immigrant Day - Self Reflection
Diana Moscoso MA, LCMHCA, NCC
I have lived as an immigrant for almost half of my life. Living as an immigrant for all this time is how I found the strengths and qualities that make me today. As an immigrant, leaving one’s country, family, and everything that is known since birth becomes a challenge that is not easily grasped.
Some of these changes come so fast that they feel like they are impossible to conquer. When one pursues a dream outside of one’s country, culture, language, and family, a complete reinvention of oneself is required. One must see oneself as an architect who is building a delicate piece and requires great effort and concentration.
Nevertheless, starting over never comes easy, but for immigrants, it requires twice as much since what is learned needs to be relearned, adjusted, or forgotten for the sake of one’s survival. The support and the resources once easy to get become a blurred reality, and tasks as easy as to order food, become an incredible challenge.
Although many people ask for the reasons to abandon our countries and succumb to the unknown, the answer is simply not that simple. For this concept to make sense, the immigrant must talk about trauma, neglect, war, economic and political distress, horror, and sometimes describe the unthinkable.
To conquer this country, one must face struggles and triumphs as reinventing oneself becomes a daily task. The language, the traditions, the religion, the social connections must be buried and give way to new goals in a foreign land as humiliations, embarrassment, and hardship chisel the shape of a completely new person.
When an immigrant crosses the border, a big part of one’s existence must die. As time passes, one begins to adapt and incorporate old and new traditions into a colorful and festive hybrid. A new culture begins to form, and we find ourselves contributing to the concept of the “salad bowl.” For that reason, I will finish by stating that the only way to succeed in a foreign country is to never lose sight of oneself and remain authentic and loyal to one’s values and beliefs.
