Category Assimilation

Yoana

“You wake up in the morning, and you feel no rush to do anything. You sit down, have a cigarette with your coffee and enjoy the sound of birds. Eat a small breakfast and then take your time getting ready…. Continue Reading →

Juana

As we sit in the professor lounge at the NYU School of Dentistry, I think back at everything Juana had to do to get here. She was able to come to a new country with no money, learn the language,… Continue Reading →

Rosa

The vast array of resources and stimuli that are present in New York City result in the experience found here by an immigrant is varied down to the individual. The perfect example of this is Rosa, who, despite going through… Continue Reading →

Julia

Hundreds of millions of people immigrate to the United States with the dream of one thing: religious freedom. Religious freedom is one of the foundations of the American Constitution and is an attractive policy for many oppressed groups of people… Continue Reading →

Mark

It is a bright Monday morning and Mark stands in front of his large 3-story home in the Bronx. He pulls at a cigarette, a habit he picked up to “deal with the stresses of America.” He waves hello to… Continue Reading →

Daniela

“Go back to your country.” “This is America. Speak English.” These are the words millions of immigrants are slandered by from white nationalists and the alt-right. While anti-immigrant rhetoric has existed long before Donald Trump rose to the presidency, it… Continue Reading →

Gloria

Gloria Fava will often be found in her garden, her happy place. Her small backyard in Dutchess County, New York, is cramped with every kind of plant imaginable; an impressive feat considering how many deer roam her lawn. Her neatly… Continue Reading →

Zinat

It was 7 AM in the early morning, an hour before Zinat Sultana had to drive to work. She put on a professional blouse and a pair of business pants. “I never wear salwar kameez to school like I used… Continue Reading →

Shanti

On a Friday afternoon, a woman lounges around her house in South Ozone Park while watching soap operas on daytime TV. Her name is Shanti and she is mother of two kids. She immigrated here from the country of Trinidad… Continue Reading →

Attiya

Attiya was 16 years old when she boarded the plane to America. It was a ten hour flight followed by another three hour drive from the airport until she reached where she would be staying in Philadelphia. Although she was… Continue Reading →

Shamsun

Early on a Thursday morning, Shamsun wakes up in her Brooklyn apartment. She has a busy day ahead of her, starting with getting her younger daughter ready for school. Her other daughter is already awake and studying for her period… Continue Reading →

Eunjoo

On an uptown six train sits a fair-skinned girl with a bob cut. She’s tightly packed between a man in a suit and a grumpy-looking woman with a death-grip on her purse. Coffee stains make patterns on the subway floor,… Continue Reading →

Daniela

Hugging her two boys on the back of a bus laid Daniela, as she stared out the window and digested her last few moments in her home country of Kosovo. In Kosovo she would leave not only the frightening memories… Continue Reading →

Rebecca

    As the cars honk and the ambulances screech, Rebecca crawls out of bed and gets herself ready for the day. She remembers when she first arrived in America, she loved all the noise that came from the city…. Continue Reading →

Ferdous

The first thing Ferdous notices as she walks out of the Church Avenue subway station at 8 PM is the reddish hue of the sky as the sun begins to set. More people are mingling on the streets, and she… Continue Reading →

Hayet

Hayet put her hand to her face and thought, struggling to put how she felt about New York into words. After a few moments, she said, “It’s a dream.” She nodded and repeated her assertion. For her, this new land,… Continue Reading →

Joy

BROOKLYN, New York — It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, but inside Didi Fresco Tortilla and Chinese Restaurant, Joy is hard at work. She greets every customer who walks into the small storefront. Joy recognizes many of her return customers, and… Continue Reading →

Helen

It is a cloudy, unseasonably chilly day in the sleepy village of Mount Kisco, located in Westchester County, New York. Helen Zhang scurries around the kitchen, busily preparing an assortment of small snacks, despite my numerous pleas that there is… Continue Reading →

Grace

BROOKLYN, New York — The sun is just beginning to set in Midwood, and the streets are beginning to grow quiet. Parents are exhausted from a long work week and gather with their children for Sunday dinner before the work… Continue Reading →

Karim

Karim situates himself in a quiet, air conditioned corner of the Hunter College library where he is currently a freshman. Finally, after years of unpredictable adjustments, he has a stable environment where he can focus on his studies. He begins… Continue Reading →

Yogini

In Queens, there is a neighborhood consisting of a small ethnic enclave of West Indians, more specifically Indo-Caribbean Guyanese and Trinidadian people. This neighborhood is South Richmond Hill, which also spreads into parts of Ozone Park. Guyana is a country… Continue Reading →

Pimbii

New York was not meant to be permanent. Back home, life in Africa was simple and beautiful: it consisted of cattle farming, safe streets, and fascinating wildlife. So when Pimbii decided to move to New York City at the age… Continue Reading →

Vania

Walking down the street with Vania, she points to her favorite places to eat: Bareburger on 31 Ave, Martha’s Country Bakery (although it has moved to Ditmars Boulevard). She reflects on how her beloved neighborhood in Queens has succumbed to… Continue Reading →

Ishtiaque

    The alarm screeches and Ishtiaque Mahdi opens his eyes and looks at the clock, 6:00. It was just 3 hours ago that he finally allowed himself to sleep after studying all night for a calculus final. Pulling himself… Continue Reading →

Shakeela

It is another calm Saturday night and Shakeela follows her nightly routine of reading the Bible and praying. She sits in dismay of having to go to work in the morning, knowing that she will miss church because of it…. Continue Reading →

Liezl

For many immigrants, the promise of opportunity is one of the greatest motives for coming to America, and for some immigrants, they were dragged along in this quest for success as children, which was the case for Liezl, a Filipino… Continue Reading →

Jenny

Sitting in the cafe section of the Barnes and Noble in Union Square, looking around the room was like looking at a microcosm of New York City. The students, the nine-to-fivers, the tourists, the homeless, the young, and the elderly… Continue Reading →

Ilona

1989: Baku, Azerbaijan. Tanks patrol the neighborhood that young Ilona, 20, resides in as a medical student. The streets that were her home and childhood are now overtaken by guards in military uniforms, enforcing their anti-Azerbaijani regime on the citizens… Continue Reading →

Their New York: Chaia

As she sat sipping bubble tea on her stoop in Elmhurst, Queens, Chaia welcomed me to join her. She began to tell me all about her experiences moving to New York City from the Philippines, and how the immigration has… Continue Reading →

Inna

An arc of seagulls amassed against a gust of wind high above Brighton Beach towards the Atlantic Ocean. Lowering the frame of focus will reveal a boardwalk littered with shops, restaurants, and a powerful Russian cultural influence. The series of… Continue Reading →

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