Personal Narrative: My Life As An American Citizen

On November 19, 2002, I sat next to my loving adoptive parents, in the Moscow airport, waiting to board a plane to the United States of America, to begin my new life as an American citizen. That was the very last thing I remember about my old life back in Russia.
My journey began in a Russian orphanage around the age of nine months, after my birth parents decided they could no longer take care of me due to their financial and personal reasons. My adoptive parents, U.S. citizens, came to Russia and adopted me. Having heard the horror stories of what happens to children in orphanages and the tragedy of what occurs when they turn 16, I was so fortunate to have been given a chance for a happy life. I was going to be become an American and be afforded all of the opportunities my new country had to offer.
Sometimes, I wonder about other immigrants who do everything in their power to overcome the challenges it takes to get into this amazing country. How they risk their lives and sometimes the lives of their children, to walk across a desert or swim across a dangerous river. I think about their determination and about the reasons they come.
I think many come for security, to be able to raise

After all I was lucky. I had two loving and stable U.S. citizens come and get me and make me a part of their family. There were no barriers for me. There was no risk to my life or wellbeing. Sure, I feel bad about all the horrible things said about immigrants on TV and in our society. However, most of what I feel is thankful and determined. I am thankful for a loving family, and a country that has accepted me and offers me a chance at a good life. Like all immigrants, I am determined. I am determined to take advantage of what has been offered and what I can become. To do anything else, would be a waste of what so many immigrants desperately