INDEPENDENCE DAY : A FLIGHT FROM PAKISTAN TO USA

Independence Day may have been years and years ago for everyone living in the United States. But for me, I have a double celebration in the honor or coming to the United States on this very day . 16 years ago my flight landed at JFK airport , I was 6 years old . A 6 year old coming with her parents that had 100$ in their pocket and one older brother who was 8 and a younger brother who was 3. We all came here with a dream, a dream to change our life forever. If you've read my post from when I first joined steemit , you would know that we were very very poor back home in Pakistan. Had ripped cloths, barely anything to eat, and a father who was ashamed to show his face because he was unable to support us .

6 years old, I was. Didn't know a word in English, I was a scared little girl in a different world . I was suppose to start 2nd grade but since I did not speak a word of English , I had started with Kindergarten. I was 7 by then and a very big kid in there. Everyday the teacher would complain to my uncle who helped us get a place to stay at in Upstate NY that "this girl does not talk, she just sits there" who can you blame ? Everything changed for me .

Years and years began to pass, my dad worked at a gas station his whole life to support a roof over our head, we made a living that way. He used to work 12 hour shift just to pay the rent to where we had lived. I began to progress , I began to become smarter , I ended up skipping 7th grade . I even went to summer school to learn more even though I never needed to go. I got my first job at McDonald when I was 14. This was the best day of my life knowing I could help my dad with the rent and expenses, I used to never see my dad because he was too busy working .

(MY MOTIVATION)

Then I moved forward and ended up graduating from high school one year early with an Advanced Regents Diploma and a member of the Honor Society. That was the day I saw my dad , his smile on his face knowing I accomplished so much that I couldn't ever do back in Pakistan. He cried , he cried and cried that we finally have some happiness in life. Seeing his daughter and sons get an education was the reason he brought us here. Now I'm graduating with a Bachelors next semester and moving onto Law School, this is Freedom for me.

To be able to come to the United States was a blessing to my family , a plane ride that changed our life forever. Yes, my dad still may work at a gas station because his English is not proper and I may hide from my friends that he works there , but I am stronger now because of him . He is my motivation to accomplish a lot in life , I want to make my family proud . He brought us to this country with a dream, and this is the dream I hope to accomplish one day . This is my freedom , this is my country . It gave me everything when we were nothing

The land of the free , I thank you !