Settling In USA

I have always had a lot of friends around me when I was little. I played with them
every day and we used to go to each other’s houses and party. I was always happy and enjoyed
my time with them. We all spoke the same language and had no trouble communicating. I used to
live in Pakistan so we all spoke Urdu. However, my father lived in the USA where he had just
bought a house. I was in fourth grade when my mother told me we were moving to the USA. I
had no concept of moving to a new place. I had no idea that I would lose all my friendships that I
made in Pakistan. Nevertheless, I was excited to go to another place with my family. The day my
father admitted me to a new school changed my life drastically.

I remember at home my father used to speak to me in English so I would be able to
understand and communicate. I practiced with my family and was able to say a few sentences.
Starting in the new grade, I was very shy and barely spoke. I tried to hide so the teacher would
not call on me to speak. But we had to do popcorn reading in which everyone had to speak out
loud. When my turn came everyone laughed including the teacher. I was very embarrassed but I
had to keep going. The further I went in the reading the laughter arose. The students wanted me
to talk out loud because they thought my accent was very funny. I was never able to
communicate seriously and always felt very embarrassed around people.

My accent led me to be picked on and as a result, I could not make friends. This process
kept going till I got into seventh grade. My accent was fading away and I was able to talk to
people freely. I took many steps to help my accent go away. For example, during my free time I
would listen to the President’s speeches and try to enunciate my words like he did. I would only
talk in English at home with my siblings and my parents. I felt like I had to work on my accent or
I would go through the same process I did in the previous grades. After practicing my accent and
the way I spoke I felt more comfortable and felt like I belonged in this country. I would stand in
front of a mirror and practice for 30 min every night.

During seventh grade, there were a few words that I was not able to pronounce correctly
which got laughter from people. However, I was able to make friends and talk out loud in class
whenever the teacher called on me. I did not try to hide as much as I did when my accent was
huge. I started to feel more comfortable around people and with myself. My accent being similar
to the people around me made me feel like I belonged in this country. I was not shy anymore and
I was able to enjoy my time in school. However, growing up I feel like the fact I was only able to
enjoy my time at school after working on my accent was wrong. People should not have to work
or practice the way they talk because other people find it amusing and make fun of it. They
should accept every accent and not treat them any different. A person’s life is shaped based on
their interactions and if they can’t enjoy that it usually leads to depression