Nik | Russia | 2009
He emigrated in 2009 at the age of 10. He had no knowledge of English. He was mocked in a small-town school in Ohio for being silent and acting different. There was one great teacher who helped him tremendously. He loved science and graduated with a molecular biology major. He worked for a government drug company. Eventually deciding he wanted to help people. He studied the paramedic program. He now serves as an EMT paramedic in rural areas of Florida. He dreams of becoming a doctor in emergency medicine.
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Giovanni | Costa Rica | 1997
After working over 10 years as a Naturalist Guide and Tour Manager, I found myself moving to the USA when I was 26 years old. This year has been a landmark in my personal journey. I crossed the point where I have now spent most of my life out of my home country. After all this time here, I can say this has become home away from home.
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Nicole | Romania | 1990
I was born in Bucharest, Romania the year the country saw the end of Soviet occupation (Soviet troops leaving the country).
I grew up in the Socialist Republic of Romania. This experience established the bedrock of my complex make-up and my dissenter personality. In that socio-political context, a young adult like me had the choice to join the system and build a career or choose to live on the margins and become the “enemy” of the system. I chose to ask for a political refugee visa from the American Embassy. This decision changed my life. The political refugee visa was granted by the US, but the Romanian government wouldn't approve my request to leave. In 1989, after the Berlin Wall fell, I had the chance to join the bloodiest anti-communist revolution in Eastern Europe and liberate Romania from its socialist totalitarian governance.
While Romania was finding its way to becoming a free, democratic republic, I was finally free to leave for the US after ten years.
A new chapter in my life began. St. Louis International Institute sponsored my husband and me in relocating as political refugees. With two suitcases each and $500 in our pockets, we started the successful journey into the new world.
We've been lucky to meet incredible people along the way who supported our efforts to find jobs, a place to live, transportation, and school. With such support and a lot of determination, I graduated at the top of my class with an AAS degree from Forest Park. I bought my first home. My daughter was born. I opened a small business. I started to follow my dream of studying visual arts. I graduated from Washington University with a BFA in painting and MFA in visual arts. I am determined to inspire new generations of artists to never give up on following their own dreams. Back to THREADS
Yeva | Russia | 1996
I came to the United States in 1996 from Russia. I was so young. I always considered myself to be an American. Only later in life did it occur to me that I am indeed an immigrant. I am of Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian descent.
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Nanette | Philippines | 1980
I am from the Philippines. My journey to the United States began in 1980. When I arrived, I was a nurse at a hospital in Centerville, Illinois.
I was given a working visa. I became an immigrant of this country and later a citizen. It was my dream to come to America. Learning the culture and adjusting to life in America was exciting. The best support, initially, came from those I worked with. I remained working at the same hospital until my retirement. I am proud to say that the friends I made at the hospital and others through the years have remained my friends to this day. Back to THREADS
Hidajeta | Bosnia | 2000
I came from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2000 to Saint Louis after the Bosnian war. I made St. Louis my home. I have a husband and two kids. Coming here was not easy at all. Leaving our families behind was difficult. We did not know any English.
Times were very hard at the beginning. I would do it all over again. Back to THREADS
Vineha | India | 2010
I was born and raised in Bombay, India. I visited the United States as a tourist in 2004 with my grandparents.
I moved here in 2010 to pursue my master's degree in computer science from North Carolina State University. My husband, (then boyfriend), had just graduated from the University of Southern California in LA. After graduating in 2012, I moved to California for my first job. I have lived here ever since. We got married in 2013. I now live in California with our two dogs! Back to THREADS
Kazuko | Canada | 1980
She was born in Canada in 1927. She immigrated to the US (on a visa) in the late 50s. However, as a Japanese-Canadian citizen, she was interned in a concentration camp with Canada's order to deport/contain persons of Japanese descent after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Japanese-Canadians were allowed to migrate eastward out of the camps. Her parents sent her, with a teacher, to Ontario. She worked in a Canadian high school cleaning and washing. She was then allowed to attend school.
She attended dressmaking/pattern making school in Toronto.
After the war ended, Canadians were not allowed to return West. They chose to return to their original town, Steveston, BC. Her family started over again—as people had looted their home while they were incarcerated.
She studied hard and was granted citizenship in the early 80s. She has since recovered her Canadian citizenship and now holds both. Back to THREADS
Valerie | France | 2016
My immigration path may not have been a trail of tears but it was still paved with bitter painful obstacles.
For 30 years, I had to travel back and forth between two countries. My unmarried status only allowed me to get a tourist visa. There were no immigration rights for LGBT couples until 2015. I journeyed from visa to green card to citizenship, a long way to recognition and respect. Back to THREADS
Tatyana | Russia | 1999
My parents brought me from Moscow to St. Louis at the tender age of 15. They hoped to further my education and improve my English. I can't say I was thrilled about the move. My parents ended up going back to Russia the very next year. They insisted I stay and continue my studies. I lived for the first few years in a condo my parents bought. I constantly felt isolated and out of place. I thought I didn't like St. Louis.
I left for New York. When I came back, I lived in University City. I commuted by bike. Suddenly my perspective changed. Biking made everything feel more approachable, more intimate. The city offered so much culture and diversity, so many things to do, hundreds of interesting people to meet and stories to listen to.... In short, I fell in love with St. Louis City while riding a bicycle. And everything else is history! Back to THREADS
Piling | Taiwan | 1991
I came from Taiwan to the US in 1991 for graduate school. Looking back at the journey we’ve gone through, I can’t be more grateful for America for supporting and nurturing our family along the way.
In the early days, our resources were very limited, but reaching the milestones (graduation, childbearing, job searching, home buying, Green Card, Citizenship…) continued to fuel our determination to secure our footing in this new country.
With my husband’s stipends from the U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, we managed to not just finish our degrees but also grow our family. My three children were born and raised with the help from the social welfare system, Public Aid and WIC.
Now, I’m proud to say that we have joined the workforce to do our share to contribute to society: my husband, a finance professor, myself a high school Mandarin teacher, America is a great country where gritty and goal-oriented people can realize their dreams and live their ideal life. Back to THREADS
Elizabeth | Philippines | 1947
My grandma buried her wedding gown during WWII before she left the Philippines to come to America.
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Carla | Brazil | 1989
Carla was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She immigrated to the US in 1989. She is a retired attorney who has lived in four continents and several American cities before settling in St Louis in 2011.
She loves the peacefulness of her home in Chesterfield, where she enjoys painting, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.
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