Danae's Immigration Story

Danae is a 12 year old girl who immigrated to the USA from Ecuador. She moved to the USA because Ecuador had little job opportunities for her parents to help provided for the family. Along with that, Ecuador is a poor country, which made being in poverty much worse. Danae was born and raised in Ecuador with her brother and sister until two years ago, when she moved to America.

Danae and her family came to America by plane, which needs documents, but she did not share whether she came with documents or not, so we are not sure whether she is illegal or not. Danae and her family were planning on going to live in South Carolina but ended up in California because her mother had more family connections in Rowland Heights. She said when she came to California her life got better because her parents had more job opportunities in California so her family was now able to support their family. But in Ecuador her life was very bad because her parents didn't have a job and were doing their very best to keep the family from breaking down and ending up homeless and hungry. According to Danae, Ecuador was a very poor country and there was always trash everywhere she went.America for her was very different then what she imagined because her mother told her that in America there were no problems and they would live problem free but when she came she saw that America was not problem free and that America has problems as well. America had more jobs than her home in Ecuador had to offer. Danae goes to a middle school called Alvarado Intermediate School.

Danae had trouble making friends because of the language barrier. Most kids at Alvarado don't speak spanish. She said, "It [Making Friends] was hard because I speak Spanish and not many people at Alvarado speak Spanish." This is a problem that new immigrants in the US have when they first move to the US.

Maria Bahena

Maria Bahena is a 14 year old girl who goes to Alvarado Middle School. Her birthdate is on February 8th 2005. Her hobbies are doing color guard, drawing, and watching anime with her sister. She likes hanging out with her friends and her family. She has a pet dog who is 1 year old. Future dream job is to become a neonatal nurse. The colleges she wants to go to are either Cal State Fullerton or Mt. Sac.

"Overall, what were your impressions about the project?"

It helps me understand the struggles that someone has to go through to go through the border. I learned to use my skill of analyzing the situation and understand that what the person is sharing is hard for them.

Aemon Yambot

My name is Aemon Yambot, I am a 13 year old middle schooler who goes to Alvarado Intermediate. My hobbies are sports and photography, though photography is sort of a side hobby, I still really like to travel places and take many pictures throughout the trip. In the future i hope to become an engineer or a professional golf or tennis player. My family is from the Philippines, but my family migrated over to the USA to provide a better life for me, my brother, and my sister.

"Overall, what were your impressions about the project?"

Overall, I really like this project. Though it may be a TON of work, I felt like this project helped me get more soaked into photography as well as help me know more about immigration throughout the world. Along with that, I got better at writing articles online, and have improved my interviewing skills for the future. This project helped me answer our essential question "How has immigration shaped America?" by informing me about the people of different cultures and reasons why they immigrated to the USA. Personal lessons-wise, I have learned to respect people who have immigrated more, because they have gone through life changing things such as immigration due to problems from their past country.