Humans of America: The big move

 Asal reflects on her past experiences on moving from Canada to the US.

Part 1: The Move

“I moved to the US from Canada when I was in middle school because of my dad's new job. I had never been outside of the country before so I was pretty nervous for this move but was also excited that I would get to experience living in another part of the world. I have always loved the idea of travelling which I had never done much of before, so this was just another big adventure for me. When I learned that we were moving to Massachusetts, I did as much research as I could about the state. I was happy to learn that we were living in a large suburban town just outside the city, since I had only ever lived in a small town which was basically in the middle of nowhere. I also knew that there were many more perks with living close to a city, such as a greater amount of opportunities.”

Part 2: Leaving My Friends

“The day I found out I was moving, I was excited but upset that I had to leave my friends. I knew that I would make new friends but the idea of leaving them for good is always hard at first. I remember telling them about the move the next day at school and was only met with sad faces. I expected at least some of them to be encouraging and tell me that it was all going to be okay, but that wasn't the case. This made it much harder on me mentally than it already was. It's one thing to be upset, but seeing your friends upset as well makes any situation feel much worse than it is. They then tried their hardest to convince me to stay and even offered me the use of their guest rooms. As thankful as I was for their kindness and consideration, I sadly knew that I still had to go. No amount of convincing was going to change my dad's mind or the location of his new job. Before I left, I wrote them each a personalized note about how much they meant to me and mentioned all the fun memories we shared. As long as I had known them, I had never seen most of them cry but after they read their notes, there wasn't a dry eye in sight. We gave each other one last big group hug and didn't let go for what felt like hours.”

Part 3: The Differences

“Coming to the US was a complete culture shock for me. There were so many differences between here and Canada. For one, Canada has free healthcare unlike the US. Having to pay for healthcare was hard on my parents at first, but I do believe that I have had better medical care here than in Canada. Plus, the appointment wait times seemed much shorter here but that might just vary by state. Another difference I had noticed was how different the people act. The drivers in Canada will rarely honk at you and will actually wait for you to pass, unlike here where they aren't always the nicest. I also wasn't used to paying highway tolls because we never had them. I thought it was insane how a country could charge drivers for using the highway and felt very ripped off. Another difference I had noticed was the political system. Canada has many more political parties than the US does and I feel as though it lets more people's voices be heard. There is also more diversity among politics and on top of that, is one of the most diverse nations in the world.”    

Part 4: The American Dream

“All my life, everyone back in Canada had always told me how there were so many more opportunities in the US. Since I had never been outside the country I believed them. After moving here, I had shortly realized that this was not the case for most immigrants. I didn't realize how long work VISAs and green card applications took to be approved. When I came here was when I first heard stories about the struggles of this long process and had later read many articles about this to inform myself. I was shocked to learn that some people had been waiting months just for their work VISA and some around twenty years for their green card. Reading these harsh statistics made me upset for the many families that have to go through this. Canada has a much better immigration system. It takes much less time to get citizenship there and is an overall easier process as well. My dad had gotten his work VISA a few months before we moved so we were all set with this process. Although, I still knew of many others who couldn't even apply for basic jobs because they hadn’t received theirs yet. I can only imagine how frustrating this must have been for them and consider my family very lucky.”

Part 5: Where I Am Now

“I am now a Junior in college at Umass Boston and am getting a degree in psychology. Living in the US has definitely had its ups and downs but overall, I can say that I have liked it here better than Canada. This country definitely grew on me over the years and I wouldn’t change the past in any way. I don't regret the move whatsoever and if I could go back in time, I would reassure my younger self that everything would be okay. I feel like everything happens for a reason and that me moving was the universe saying that I needed to branch out of my small Candian town, and see what I was missing. I wouldn't have known any different if I had stayed there and I now strongly believe that it's important to see the world from other countries' perspectives. There are also a lot more opportunities at American universities than there are at Candian ones in my opinion. I feel as though that going to school here definitely gave me a head start as to know what I wanted to do with my life, as opposed to my Canadian friends who were uncertain for much longer. All I can say is that I have been blessed with the many opportunities I have had in my life and will continue to grow because of them. I look forward to the future because I know that there is always more to come.”