Rose moved to the United States from Jamaica at the age of fourteen. She has lived in New York City since and has flourished both academically and socially. For her, ultimately the desire for a brighter future brought her to the United States:
If I had stayed in Jamaica, I feel like I would have only had a, like I would have had a ceiling on how far I could go. Right now, I feel like I can pretty much do anything I want or like go as far as I want, I don’t know if that’s true but that’s how I feel. In Jamaica, I feel like I would’ve, uhm, graduated high school, probably went to university, as they call it, not college, and, uhm, then graduated and got a job. And I don’t know what would’ve happened after that. I might’ve just been in the same job. And, you know, I feel like there is more pressure to have more children earlier and to kind of get your life settled. So, I feel like there would’ve been a different life. Right now, I feel like I can kind of just do what I want to do. Like it’s my own life and I have more choices of where I want to go with it.”
