I never really understood culture shock until I arrived. You may be wondering where to America. I never pictured I would be calling this my home but here I am 6 years old and looking around as if I were a kid in a candy store everything was beautiful. Bright lights, everywhere. Snow was lightly falling never in my life had I seen this it was like white cotton candy falling from the sky- it was a scene out of a movie- I was surrounded by beauty. It was impossible to believe I was here, this seemed like a whole new world to me. Where I came from everyone smile and nods everyone here has a sense of direction here everyone minds their own business. At the time it seemed so cliche. A dystopian society were everyone knew who they were or had to be.
    Going back a year ago I was aware we were leaving, All due to my dad, he developed skin cancer in Mexico. My parents decided to leave not only for that reason but to give us a better life opposed to what they had, a middle school education. You may know this as the American dream, I've only heard of it in soap operas. Were everyone risk their own life for  a glimpse of it though in those stories they have a lover and at 6 years old the closest thing to love you have is a cabbage patch doll. With two brothers Joel, Alexis, ma, papa, and I we were ready to leave.
    I remember how we arrived as if had occurred yesterday. My story is not as exciting as others I didn't hide from cops or  go trough the deadly river were its one bad step and your done, nor cross borders but  on a bus. Not as exciting but memorable. Even tough I knew we were leaving, I remember the day as it had occurred yesterday. I was playing with my Polly Pockets by our house gate. Remember, those the dolls with the glove like hair and clothes. My mom said that we were all ready to leave I had no idea where? as a kid your head starts spinning and you think your parents are leaving you. But to my realization we were on our way. A 12 hour trip and 3 stops that's mainly what I remember.
    In the blink of an eye we arrived. I remember waiting at a building in Chicago to get transportation. I remember driving on our way to Milwaukee all the buildings tall and beautiful. From the car I caught a glimpse of what I referred to as the giant bean. I slept trough the whole ride to the sound of amazement by my brothers the 'ooohs' and the 'aahs'
    Today I am 13 years old, speak fluent English and aspire to be an anesthesiologist. Never in my life did I picture I would be here with a bright  future in mind or know such big word, just kidding . Immigrating here shaped me and impacted me a big way. I aspire to have big dreams to break the pattern of immigrants having to work small jobs. I want to prove that the American dream is possible, hard but a dream that can be reached. But most importantly I want to prove that no matter who you are and how ambitious your dreams are you can achieve them. I am not going to lie, I wake up every day and question what I am still doing with my life. How its possible that 9 digits of a social security number  could define your life and your value. While everyone else is having  all these conversations about going to college and attending prestigious high schools I sit there knowing that for me  that's impossible these are the times were I feel unknown an outsider. All my life I have said "what if's" but not anymore the word impossible itself has possible in it. We immigrants might have to fight harder then everyone else but if that's what we have to do we will. We have to stop hiding behind the curtain that is society enclosing us from our true dreams and reaching our full potential. We have to be that light in the end of the tunnel that's life, that glimpse of hope for anyone feeling helpless. But we will achieve our dreams with a state of mind that we can do anything we set our minds to.  I am Maria a firm believer in change not of myself but the way society views immigrants we will not be helpless we will show who we are and what we can do. We can achieve anything.