Map of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China. Source: Chinatouristmaps
Both my mother and father were born in Fuzhou, China, and so was I. My family’s immigration history starts from my mother’s side of the family and dates back to 1990. My mother has three siblings: an older brother, an older sister, and a younger brother. My grandparents, who were both teachers, placed high expectations on all of their children. Even though teachers were highly respected by others in the community, they did not bring much revenue to the family. Therefore, my mother’s family was considered poor, especially when my grandparents had to feed four children.
When my younger uncle, Steve, was 18, he fell in love with a girl in his school. He wanted to become rich and win the girl’s heart using wealth. However, there was no way that he could find a decent job with just a high school diploma. At that time, many people from my mother’s hometown went to the United States to earn money. They were successful and earned a lot of money. Uncle Steve decided to quit school and go to the land of opportunity, the United States of America. He voluntarily wanted to immigrate and its was his individual choice to leave China. After seeing that uncle Steve was doing well in New York, uncle John and his wife decided to migrate to the land of opportunity to make money. They left their children with my grandmother in 1994. As uncle Steve had previously come, there was a network of people who could offer help to any other family members who came. Thus, uncle John and his wife found a place to stay in New York City and started to make money.
In 2000, uncle John’s two children, my mother’s sister, and her child immigrated to New York. This was mainly done for family reunification purposes, and it was made easier due to the established family network. They all settled permanently in the United States, which became their second home. However, my cousins’ immigration stimulated my desire to move as well. I was jealous that they could speak and understand English. Meanwhile, my mother had divorced from my father. Therefore, my mother finally decided to immigrate to New York, as she wanted to reunite with her side of the family. She wanted to give me a better education. With a large family network already set up in New York, my transition into American life was made easier. Before I even arrived in the United States, my aunt had already rented an apartment for us in Chinatown. She also found a school for me to attend. After all of this, I realized that our family network was really strong. Nothing could stop a family from reuniting with each other. In 2003, I finally reunited with my beloved cousins.
Through the efforts of my family to better themselves economically, my family immigrated here. Thanks to them, the younger generation of my cousins and I are able to have an American education and have the chance to live in this land of opportunity.
