Essay #1: Rough Draft

Moving to the United States of America! Sound exciting? Probably not to you but for my family it sounded like heaven back in the summer of 1998. This story will show why my family made the move from our home in Ukraine to America and how this humongous step affected me personally.

Why would anyone move from their comfortable home in the country that they have always lived in, to a whole different country? Good question. There were three main reasons for that this happened. Religious freedom was probably a bigger reason of the three. Our religion is the most important thing to our family other than the family itself. As you might you, there are plenty of different types of Christians in this world. Our specific Christian belief is Pentecostal or in other words, the belief in the Trio. This Trio consists of God himself, his son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Back in Ukraine, there was a time when the Soviet Union rule. Communism did not allow any religion to function with freedom. My grandpa had actually served a lot of prison time because he would not deny his religion. We knew that in America, we would be able to practice our religion without being persecuted. It had a lot to do with our motivation to go to America because even though the Soviet Union was gone, the times were not the best. Next reason was the fact that nearly half of our relatives had already left to America and the rest were planning on it. The families that were already living in the U.S. encouraged the families in the Ukraine to do the same. This helped my parents finalize the decision. Last reason is a list of smaller reasons. For example, there are many more opportunities for a career or a good job. Also, most of the streets were made of mud and dirt, the grocery store was basically and outdoor market that we called the bazaar and the education seemed more promising. There are some more reasons but I think you get the point, which is, living in the United States of America is much better than the Ukraine.

After reading the previous paragraph, you might think that moving must have been an easy decision and that we probably will not be that homesick. Truth is this move affected me greatly. For example, getting over the friends that were back at home was not that easy. I was seven years old, so at the time, I didn’t fully understand why we were leaving and according to my parents, I was not the happiest person. Also, I just finished the first grade and now I would have to adjust to a different way that education was being taught. The move was great but it was kind of hard to fully change our way of life. We changed nearly everything.

I can’t imagine what my life would be like if my parents decided to stay in Ukraine. This story explains how this one event can completely change anyone’s life.