Originally, my parents planned on filing for citizenship when they had the money. But, that’s the problem with raising four kids...

If joy is hidden behind a bed of thorns, then I will cut my hands to reach it...

I was the only girl in my family and had three older brothers. My mom was a teacher and my dad worked in communications...

From a young age I dreamed of distant lands. Adventures in exotic places filled my head as I made my long walk...

My father was a Kashmiri Pandit, a Hindu in a Muslim-dominated area. But in those days, it was no real threat other than...

In the early 1990s, my father and his brother left their home in Macedonia to pursue their dream of opening a restaurant together...

Luckily, one of the performers noticed me trailing behind them and took me to the police station where I was reunited with my parents...

My childhood was simple, as is most of life in our community. And for many years, it was all I knew, all I needed...

My parents were both originally from the northern region of Vietnam but fled south to escape communist rule...

Ever since I was a baby, my parents, siblings, and I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina, many times. It was always super fun to visit...

Since I was a child, I’ve been an open book and eager to have new experiences. I wanted to “see the world,” and perhaps, find...

My country is destroyed—people have died of hunger, died from a lack of medicine, or simply have been killed. Thanks to a dictatorship...

From a very early age, I knew I had a unique identity. My favorite part of having mixed blood is to make people try to guess...

I was a very chubby kid since childhood; I enjoyed food and was very carefree. I loved to dance and sing. I grew up with one sister who...

With politics dividing this country, and “Nazi” being used on both sides of the divide, I often wonder how people can come back together...

At the time, Pablo Escobar, a drug lord and narco-terrorist, was wreaking havoc in Colombia and my parents didn’t feel that living there...

We lived in a tiny, one-bedroom abode, because my father did not make much money being a school teacher. He was often innovative, once...

My family and friends were there, and it was what I was used to. I wanted to travel to other countries, but I always thought I’d come...

Everything I had touched in my life had so far become a disappointment, and I wanted to end it all. My life flashed before my eyes as I...

“Good life is expensive. There is a cheaper one, but it’s not life,” my parents used to say. It might not sound literally correct, but...