My parents

Before this course, I knew of no refugees personally, but my entire life I have been surrounded by immigrants. Both of my parents immigrated to the United States in order to further their educations. My mom came when she was 18, and my dad when he was 21. While neither of them were forced out of their country of birth (India), they still left behind well-established lives to immigrate to a country filled with uncertainty alongside promise. My dad had exposure to living on his own, as he had been going to boarding school since the age of seven. Regardless, learning how to live as an adult halfway across the world while excelling in school was a daunting task that both of them had to learn how to manage. While they still have roots in India, they started entirely independent lives in the United States. None of the rest of their family came with them nor followed them to America months or years later.