Source: Kaesung
My grandparents migrated from Ningbo, China, to America with their son, my father, and two daughters in 1983. My family made a rational decision by weighing the benefits of migration to the costs. In their case, the benefits outweighed the costs. They had no heat and hardly enough food in China. They wanted to migrate to America because of all of the opportunities the country was known to bring, most importantly well-paying jobs. It was easy for them to migrate to America because my great-grandparents were already living in New York City. The cost of coming to America was negligible.
In the late 1980s, my parents were living in Canarsie, Brooklyn, along with my grandparents on my father’s side and my older brother. By the time I was born, my brother was already three years old. Both my parents and both my grandparents were working to make ends meet and to save for a better future. My grandmother worked less so that she could care for my brother. My family did not have time to look after two kids, so my parents made the decision to send me back to China. With me out of the picture in America, my parents and grandparents worked really hard in their jobs. They wanted to take advantage of what America had to offer.
Me and My Parents in 2010.
At the age of five, I would have still been burdensome. However, my parents made it their priority to get me an American education. The brought me back to the United States just in time for the first day of kindergarten. Even though I was born in America, I felt like an immigrant coming back. I did not know the language or anyone.
By returning to America at an early age, I was able to integrate a lot easier than I would if I came when I was older. My parents told me that each day I would speak more and more English.
Over the years, I feel that I have definitely integrated well into America. Being able to migrate at a young age was advantageous. I did not have to go into the real world and find a job. Instead, I had time to integrate gradually under the protection of my parents.
