Rodriguez

This is where I first lived, when I was born in the Philippines. I lived there till I was four, so I don't have too much memories growing up there. It's a small two-floor unit, where we lived with my grandparents. Back then, my dad was still in college while my mom was the only working parent. They found it difficult to raise four kids, and so we had to move out eventually in pursuit of better opportunities.

During Y2K, the tech industry worldwide boomed with a lot of jobs opening up. My parents were able to score IT jobs in Singapore, which had a higher standard of living than the Philippines. My dad had just recently graduated from college while my mom was struggling to make ends meet. It made sense for them to take up the offer in order to support our family of 6.

We stayed in a small first apartment for 2 years while we were settling down in a new country. During this time, I attended a kindergarten school nearby.

When my family started to acclimate to Singapore, my parents decided to move to a bigger apartment. I consider this place my childhood home because I spent most of my formative years growing up here. The longest I've stayed in one house is 8 years and when I think back on my childhood years, this is the home where I attribute a lot of my fondest memories.

My family never intended to move to another neighborhood, but at the age of 14, we left our home of 8 years. Around 2011, we were supposed to migrate to the US. We were next in line but the rate of intake of immigrants abruptly slowed down and ended up delaying us by around 4 years. When we found out, our lease could no longer be renewed and a new tenant had already taken our place.

We relocated to a smaller apartment for 3 years, where I attended a high school nearby. At the age of 17, our rent became too expensive and so we decided to relocate to a more affordable apartment. 

My family moved here for the cheaper rent. At the time, we were in a transitory phase. We were still waiting in line to migrate to the US and weren't too sure how much longer we had left in Singapore. As such, at the end of 1 year here, we chose not to renew our lease again and moved to an even cheaper apartment.

This was our last temporary home before moving to the US. We stayed here for about 8 months before migrating.

In April 2015, this is where I first lived when I landed in the US. My family temporarily lived with our relatives in Florida while we were still figuring out our future here. The photo above shows the very first day I arrived with my siblings. I was extremely excited to live in a landed house for the first time, after spending 18 years living in apartments.

After 2 months, my mom got an offer to work in New York, and so our whole family decided to move.

In July 2015, we moved into a duplex house in Fresh Meadows in Queens. We picked this place because the neighborhood is relatively safe, and because we also wanted a house that came with a garage. The house is rented at an affordable price compared to apartments. We have a basement; living room, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor; 3 bedrooms on the second floor; and an attic. Even though it is a duplex house, the space is ample enough for my family of 6. I've been living here for almost 3 years and so, the house is starting to feel more like a home, especially considering the past consecutive temporary residences I've had.

In the future, I hope to become a homeowner so that I wouldn't have to worry about moving around too much.