Book post #2

The book I chose is American Like Me, edited by American Ferrera. I was intrigued by its structure. The book is a compilation of essays from the perspectives of children of immigrant parents and people who migrated as children and young adults. I usually get quite bored reading books. However, the many stories told in this book keep me engaged. Knowing that great people who have been able to achieve great things went through something similar to me as a child made this book a source of comfort.

 Like many people in this book, I also wondered what it meant to be American. I migrated to the United States when I was 9 and often thought about what it meant to be American. Did this mean that I had to choose one culture over another? Or was there a way to find a good balance between both cultures? To this day, I still find myself wondering if I’m American enough. This book made me reflect on the many experiences we as immigrants and children of immigrants face. For so long this was something that I thought only a few people experienced. 

Like the many stories in this book, I too appreciated and loved my culture. But there have been times when I wished I was more American. Like America Ferrera I experience people talking behind my back but in the opposite way. Because I used to be shy as a child I didn't talk much. People thought I didn't speak any English. The first time I interacted with a kid from class that I hadn't spoken to before they said to me "Brigitte I didn't know you spoke English". After that, I told myself that I would speak to more people. This experience also made me question why would people think that about me is it because I don't look American? This was the question many of the narrators wondered. What should you look like, act like, or be interested in to be considered American enough? As I kept reading the book many stories spoke to me. Some spoke about the things our parents gave up to come to this country. Many parents gave up their names while others gave up their careers. The children also lost a lot of their heritage. Parents gave their kids ethnic names but don't teach them the language. Which can lead to an identity crisis for many children. It was interesting to see how the people telling their stories navigate these things and how they found themselves. This book also made me realize that we are not alone and many people share our experiences. We can all be Americans while embracing our culture. America is a melting pot of people from all over the world. This means that being American means coming from all walks of life.