Language barriers, cultural adjustment, education. With many novels and movies starring the cliche new student’s adjustment to an American high school, the immigrant story arc is one that stands at the forefront of the entertainment industry. However, the stereotypical struggles of immigrants often conceal the lesser known challenges faced by the children of immigrant parents.
Living in a country like the United States with a predominantly English-speaking population can have its own challenges. When families migrate to the states seeking prosperity and opportunities for their children, they worry about fitting into American culture and understanding the language. Amidst these worries, the children of these families are often left with the pressure of being interpreters and cultural mediators, trying to fill the gap between these two isolated worlds.
Freshman Idhika Subish explains her experiences with growing up in the United States. “I feel like it’s much harder for immigrant children to feel a sense of place in their parents’ homelands because right from the start, they were pushed into the new culture through school and extracurricular activities. Once that child assimilates into the new culture it’s harder for them to feel connected to their heritage again,” Subish stated. “I personally experience this when I go to India and usually struggle the first two weeks adjusting to my language again because I don’t get to use it very often otherwise.”
Being a child of immigrants comes with its own challenges. Feeling too American to fit into native culture but seeming too foreign to be American is a state many children struggle overcoming. Even with speaking native languages and eating cultural foods at home, traveling to their home countries often leaves students lacking a sense of belonging.
Though they may have grown up experiencing their parents’ culture, visiting a different country can still give these 2nd generation immigrants culture shocks. From bargaining practices to using slang, inexperience with these seemingly minor aspects of a culture are often what make non-natives easy to identify.
Traveling to underdeveloped home nations is often accompanied by financial differences. With many of their foreign friends and family coming from less wealthy backgrounds, children with families from developing countries are left having to adjust to the drastic changes in monetary value.
While these children may not have to worry too much about financial struggles when living in a wealthy nation like America, they are likely to receive a shock when they witness their families with a completely different perception of money. The sacrifices these families make when it comes to sanitation and food are ones foreign children are not likely to have witnessed, and being put in such an environment leaves them unaware of how to value the money they own.
Atop these concerns, these children have to deal with the immigrant mentality at home as well. Constantly surrounded by values that may not always align with their own, unnecessary stinginess with money and excessive importance on academics can leave students feeling inadequate.
Junior Manusri Mutyala shares her struggles with her own immigrant parents. “My parents and I both face struggles living in the United States. However, the struggles they face as immigrants relate mostly to visas, taxes, and being able to afford America’s expensive college education,” she explained. “On the other hand, most of my struggles are related to being restricted to certain career paths because my parents’ visas don’t “support” the career path I wish to pursue, putting further pressure on me surrounding my undecided future.”
With many of the students at Pleasant Valley being 2nd generation immigrants, bringing awareness to these issues plays a big role in the success of the district. The challenges of these students are often undermined and passed off as “close enough” to those of immigrants, making it much more difficult for them to be heard. While the stereotypical hurdles may also affect these children, it is important for the public to bring awareness to the lesser known issues that are endured behind the scenes.
