We all remember the change. Ask any immigrant, and they will tell you how their life changed drastically when they moved to the United States. Any immigrant including myself can tell you how it felt to leave everything we knew for something we wished for. Every immigrant I know can tell you two stories of two different lives lived in one. Every immigrant I know had to adapt and keep their head up no matter the circumstances. A challenge worth the sacrifice; that is how I define the American Dream. It was truly a strange and isolating experience growing up as first generation immigrants with my family in the United States. All of my peers were second generation and could speak two languages, while I was very dependent on translators. This was collectively our biggest obstacle: language barriers. It was an obstacle that limited understanding and connection with others, not just to communicate but to have opportunities. Learning English was challenging but the more we learned the more we were able to put our ideas out, the more we were being listened to, and the more we were able to do. Pushing the limits to what we could learn allowed us to grow and was very rewarding. I saw my parents grow with me and in a new setting. We managed to make a new life without regrets. Throughout the years we have been making more cherished memories that might not have been possible if we had stayed, and my parents are very vocal about how important it is to not take everything for granted. Neither of my parents were able to finish university due to low income. They placed a great value in education and encouraged me to be academically responsible. The stories they told me of life in their past made me realize how lucky I was to have the chance to grow up here with more possibilities to be successful. I realized that I was lucky I did not have to choose between riding the bus or eating lunch, choose between a job or a career, or sacrifice anything like they did before they moved. Therefore, I want to attend college not only for myself but for my parents as well. I want to show my parents that leaving everything behind to live here was worth it. I believe that I should seize this opportunity to accomplish what my parents could not, and make them proud. If we immigrated as a family to live a more fulfilling life, I don’t see why I should let my immigration status discourage me from accomplishing our American Dream.