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Melissa's avatar

How on earth ate they able to prove what cats know? Maybe the cats were just yanking their chain.

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Sowmya Rao's avatar

It’s what most legal immigrants go through to achieve their dream. We waited for almost 11 years to get our Green Card(GC) or 18 years from F1(student visa) to GC. During that time, we were always under stress and were mentally prepared to leave the country if by any chance our application does not get approved.

The visa interview starts even before we enter this country. We go through stressful interview at US embassy for getting student visa. Once we come as an international student, we pay way more money for tuition fees compared to instate or out of state, but still lot of international students come to study here.And we are not eligible to majority of the financial aid (make sense). I feel most of the universities are running on the money from international tuition fee.

Once we graduate, some of them are fortunate enough to get a job in a company which sponsors H1B. These jobs pay less than the average salary for that position.

And there are families who still waiting for their GC and their kids who are not US citizens are becoming 18. They spent all their childhood here and this is the only place they know as home. Now they need to apply for student visa and pay international tuition fees. These are some of the stressful circumstances which we as an legal immigrant go through.

So I keep asking myself why did I go through this hardship (definitely way better situation than others who are facing) to stay in USA and I bet most of you have thought the same. Why can’t they stay in their own country? Why do they have to come to USA? These are the reasons which convinced me after living in USA for two decades: (comparing India and USA)

1. Most important is the higher education. We can get the education anywhere but this country teaches you more than the academics. It’s the Soft Skills like communicating effectively with others, being confident, how to manage life, and many more. I love that it’s easier to have a conversation with your professors whether they agree on a topic or not.

2. The best part is every student will go through the same hard work irrespective of their social class or their status (unless you are in top 1% income group). It’s not easy to tell which social class one belongs based on their look and it’s a good thing.

3. Safety: Being a girl, I feel safe to go around alone to run errands day or night.

4. There were less opportunities in India during the time I came here to study Masters (2002), but now it has changed. India has more lucrative opportunities.

5. Bureaucracy is everywhere but it is less here compared to India. Opening a bank account and doing regular transactions is way easier in USA.

6. Customer Service: I like the way store employees are always cheerful and greet you.

7. Last but not least, people are friendly and they respect one’s privacy.

I am not saying India is not good, I love my country. India has its own benefits, rich cultural heritage, family values and most diverse country. Overall, I have two places which I call home, India and USA. Both countries have shaped my personality in its own way. I am glad I was able to achieve my American Dream.😊

This is entirely written based on my experience and my opinion.

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