growing up with immigrant parents college essay

College Essay: My Parents’ Sacrifice Makes Me Strong

After living in Texas briefly, my mom moved in with my aunt in Minnesota, where she helped raise my cousins while my aunt and uncle worked. My mom still glances to the building where she first lived. I think it’s amazing how she first moved here, she lived in a small apartment and now owns a house. 

My dad’s family was poor. He dropped out of elementary school to work. My dad was the only son my grandpa had. My dad thought he was responsible to help his family out, so he decided to leave for Minnesota   because  of  many  work opportunities .   

My parents met working in cleaning at the IDS  C enter during night shifts. I am their only child, and their main priority was not leaving me alone while they worked. My mom left her cleaning job to work mornings at a warehouse. My dad continued his job in cleaning at night.   

My dad would get me ready for school and walked me to the bus stop while waiting in the cold. When I arrived home from school, my dad had dinner prepared and the house cleaned. I would eat with him at the table while watching TV, but he left after to pick up my mom from work.   

My mom would get home in the afternoon. Most memories of my mom are watching her lying down on the couch watching her  n ovelas  –  S panish soap operas  – a nd falling asleep in the living room. I knew her job was physically tiring, so I didn’t bother her.  

Seeing my parents work hard and challenge Mexican customs influence my values today as a person. As a child, my dad cooked and cleaned, to help out my mom, which is rare in Mexican culture. Conservative Mexicans believe men are superior to women; women are seen as housewives who cook, clean and obey their husbands. My parents constantly tell me I should get an education to never depend on a man. My family challenged  machismo , Mexican sexism, by creating their own values and future.  

My parents encouraged me to, “ ponte  las  pilas ” in school, which translates to “put on your batteries” in English. It means that I should put in effort and work into achieving my goal. I was taught that school is the key object in life. I stay up late to complete all my homework assignments, because of this I miss a good amount of sleep, but I’m willing to put in effort to have good grades that will benefit me. I have softball practice right after school, so I try to do nearly all of my homework ahead of time, so I won’t end up behind.  

My parents taught me to set high standards for myself. My school operates on a 4.0-scale. During lunch, my friends talked joyfully about earning a 3.25 on a test. When I earn less than a 4.25, I feel disappointed. My friends reacted with, “You should be happy. You’re extra . ” Hearing that phrase flashbacks to my parents seeing my grades. My mom would pressure me to do better when I don’t earn all 4.0s  

Every once in  awhile , I struggled with following their value of education. It can be difficult to balance school, sports and life. My parents think I’m too young to complain about life. They don’t think I’m tired, because I don’t physically work, but don’t understand that I’m mentally tired and stressed out. It’s hard for them to understand this because they didn’t have the experience of going to school.   

The way I could thank my parents for their sacrifice is accomplishing their American dream by going to college and graduating to have a professional career. I visualize the day I graduate college with my degree, so my  family  celebrates by having a carne  asada (BBQ) in the yard. All my friends, relatives, and family friends would be there to congratulate me on my accomplishments.  

As teenagers, my parents worked hard manual labor jobs to be able to provide for themselves and their family. Both of them woke up early in the morning to head to work. Staying up late to earn extra cash. As teenagers, my parents tried going to school here in the U.S .  but weren’t able to, so they continued to work. Early in the morning now, my dad arrives home from work at 2:30 a.m .,  wakes up to drop me off at school around 7:30 a.m . , so I can focus on studying hard to earn good grades. My parents want me to stay in school and not prefer work to  head on their  same path as them. Their struggle influences me to have a good work ethic in school and go against the odds.  

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How to Write a Standout College Essay about Immigrant Parents

Kate Sliunkova

AdmitYogi, Stanford MBA & MA in Education

If you're a high school student, chances are you've been asked to write an essay before. Writing about your immigrant parents can be a daunting task, but it can also be a beautiful opportunity to share your unique perspective. With the right strategies and mindset, you can craft an essay that not only showcases your writing skills but also honors the sacrifices and experiences of your immigrant parents.

Acknowledge the Significance of Your Parents' Journey

Before delving into writing your essay, it's crucial to acknowledge and appreciate the significance of your parents' immigration journey. Recognize the sacrifices they made, leaving behind their home country, family, and familiar surroundings, to provide a better life for you and your family. This appreciation will help you approach your essay with a deeper understanding and empathy. To explore successful college essays that highlight the importance of family sacrifices, visit AdmitYogi for inspiring examples.

Use Their Story as a Springboard for Self-Reflection

Your parents' immigration story serves as a powerful springboard for self-reflection. Reflect on the impact their journey has had on you - your identity, values, and aspirations. Consider how growing up in a multicultural household has shaped your worldview and influenced the choices you've made. This self-reflection allows you to connect your personal growth to your parents' experiences, providing a rich and compelling narrative. AdmitYogi can provide additional guidance on how to effectively incorporate self-reflection into your essay.

Choose a Meaningful Essay Topic

Selecting the right essay topic is crucial to capturing the attention of college admissions officers. Instead of focusing solely on your parents' story, choose a topic that reflects your own experiences and values, while weaving in elements of their journey. For example, you can explore moments where you grappled with language barriers and how those challenges fostered your determination to excel academically and embrace diverse perspectives.

Consider discussing the cultural differences you navigated while transitioning to the United States. Highlight the lessons you've learned about cultural diversity and your ability to adapt and thrive in new environments. This demonstrates your resilience and adaptability, qualities that colleges value in their applicants.

Infuse Your Essay with Personal Anecdotes

To make your essay engaging and memorable, infuse it with personal anecdotes that illustrate key moments or lessons from your own journey. Share specific stories that demonstrate your growth, resilience, and unique perspective. For instance, you can write about a time when you bridged a cultural gap between your parents' native traditions and American customs, showcasing your ability to navigate cultural complexities with sensitivity and openness.

By incorporating personal anecdotes, you showcase your individual experiences and emphasize how you have been shaped by your parents' immigration story, while maintaining the focus on you.

Reflect on the Intersection of Your Identity and Values

Colleges are interested in understanding who you are as an individual and the values you hold dear. Reflect on how your parents' immigration journey has influenced your own identity and values. Discuss the lessons you've learned about perseverance, determination, and the importance of education.

Highlight the ways in which your parents' sacrifices have motivated you to seize educational opportunities and strive for excellence. Emphasize how their story has instilled in you a deep appreciation for the value of education and the pursuit of knowledge.

Showcase Your Personal Growth and Aspirations

A compelling college essay should demonstrate personal growth and aspirations. Reflect on how your parents' experiences have influenced your own aspirations and goals for the future. Discuss the career paths, community involvement, or social initiatives that you are passionate about, and how they align with your values and the experiences you've had growing up as a child of immigrants.

Craft a Narrative That Captivates Admissions Officers

To make your essay truly standout, craft a narrative that captivates admissions officers. Start with a powerful and attention-grabbing opening. This could be a personal anecdote, a thought-provoking question, or a vivid description that draws the reader in from the very beginning.

Throughout your essay, use descriptive language and storytelling techniques to paint a vivid picture of your experiences and the impact of your parents' journey on your life. Engage the reader's senses and emotions, allowing them to connect with your story on a deeper level.

Writing a college application essay about your immigrant parents is an opportunity to celebrate your unique perspective and honor their experiences. By focusing on you and infusing your personal growth, values, and aspirations into the essay, you create a compelling narrative that highlights your individuality.

Remember to reflect on the intersection of your identity and values, choose a meaningful topic, and craft a narrative that captivates admissions officers. AdmitYogi , a trusted resource for successful college essays, offers a wealth of examples and guidance to help you throughout your writing journey. With these strategies and the support of AdmitYogi, you can write a standout essay that makes colleges eager to admit you and the incredible journey you represent.

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I’m a First-Generation American. Here’s What Helped Me Make It to College

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My father is an immigrant from Mexico who decided to sacrifice his home to give me a better life. He grew up with the notion that the United States had one of the best education systems in the world and he saw that education as my ticket to participate in the pursuit of happiness.

When he moved to America, he chose Flushing, Queens, in New York City—which this year became an epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis—because the public elementary school was highly regarded for its academics and safety. But navigating the public school system was extremely difficult, marked with constant reminders that the system was not designed for students like me. These difficulties and inequities have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis and will continue to impact students if they remain unaddressed.

My father always lived with the fear that if people found out I was the son of a Mexican immigrant, I would be ostracized in the classroom. From the first day of elementary school, he prayed that no one would bother me for being Mexican American, and that I would learn English quickly so I could defend against attacks on my identity. I have gone through all my academic career fighting the stereotypes that Mexicans are all “lazy” and “undocumented.”

I have experienced an interesting duality as a Mexican American, one that has played a formative role in my education and development. I have two languages, two countries, two identities. I learn in English but live in Spanish. I am Mexican at home but American at school.

I first became aware of this code-switching in middle school. The ways I interacted with my white, wealthy peers were far different from with my Latinx friends. I understood that English held more power than Spanish. Many people associate an accent or different regional variants of English to be unsophisticated, so I worked to be perceived as “articulate” and “well-spoken” at my local elementary and middle schools. In fact, it was my attention to coming across as “articulate” that helped me get into the high school that I attended.

I wanted to attend a high-achieving high school, but I did not perform well on the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) and therefore failed to be admitted into one of New York City’s specialized high schools. But the principal of Millennium High School, a selective public high school in Manhattan, offered me a spot—and gave me a shot. Principal Colin McEvoy saw more than the student who failed to get into a SHSAT school. He saw a well-spoken kid who was determined to find a school that would have the resources to achieve his goal of graduating and going to college. My father had sacrificed everything so I could go to college, and I saw Millennium as the means to get there.

Not every student can have the same opportunity I did, but every school community and educator can take certain steps to support students who feel at odds within a system that was not designed for them. Here are three steps that will help students like me:

1. Play an active role in their students’ lives outside of academics. While this is important during “normal” times, it is even more important now during the global pandemic when students are worried about their family, cut off from friends, and unsure what the future holds. Each student should be assigned a teacher who also serves as adviser, an additional adult figure in their life to help guide and assist them—even if this is done virtually. At Millennium, each student in the beginning of the high school experience is assigned an adviser and meets in advisory class three days a week to complete college-preparatory activities and check in with their adviser about academics and their personal life.

2. Acknowledge how political developments may affect students. Schools should provide students who may be affected by a policy decision with the tools to protect their education. I have many friends who have been affected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy and had to go through the complex process of ensuring they could study in the country without their parents. This June, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to rescind DACA, but immigrants’ fight for protection under the law is far from over. It is important for teachers to understand how politics can impact the well-being of students—and how the fear of those impacts often take a toll on students’ academics.

3. Offer guidance on how to apply to college and options aside from college. My former high school requires every student to meet with the college guidance counselor at least twice, once each in their junior and senior years. As the first in my family to apply to college, these meetings were essential for me to figure out the application process, as well as for navigating financial aid and scholarships. It was only with this guidance that I applied for a Posse Foundation scholarship and earned a full scholarship to Middlebury College—opportunities that I would not have even known about otherwise.

As the COVID-19 vaccine gets rolled out more widely, there remain a lot of unknowns in higher education and in many families’ financial futures. Educators can help students explore alternate opportunities during this difficult time, including community college, internships, apprenticeships, gap years, or service-learning options.

Students of marginalized communities are both fighters and academics. Going through the American education system is difficult, and there are active ways that schools and educators can help their students navigate it. This is not a matter of doing the work for the students but acknowledging that there are several challenges present in students’ lives—challenges that may be exacerbated during a pandemic—and helping them navigate them.

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My immigrant family achieved the American dream. Then I started to question it.

by Amanda Machado

In summer 2007, I returned home from my freshman year at Brown University to the new house my family had just bought in Florida. It had a two-car garage. It had a pool. I was on track to becoming an Ivy League graduate, with opportunities no one else in my family had ever experienced. I stood in the middle of this house and burst into tears. I thought: We’ve made it.

That moment encapsulated what I had always thought of the “American dream.” My parents had come to this country from Mexico and Ecuador more than 30 years before, seeking better opportunities for themselves. They worked and saved for years to ensure my two brothers and I could receive a good education and a solid financial foundation as adults. Though I can’t remember them explaining the American dream to me explicitly, the messaging I had received by growing up in the United States made me know that coming home from my first semester at a prestigious university to a new house meant we had achieved it.

• I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American. I've failed.

And yet, now six years out of college and nearly 10 years past that moment, I’ve begun questioning things I hadn’t before: Why did I “make it” while so many others haven’t? Was this conventional version of making it what I actually wanted? I’ve begun to realize that our society’s definition of making it comes with its own set of limitations and does not necessarily guarantee all that I originally assumed came with the American dream package.

I interviewed several friends from immigrant backgrounds who had also reflected on these questions after achieving the traditional definition of success in the United States. Looking back, there were several things we misunderstood about the American dream. Here are a few:

1) The American dream isn’t the result of hard work. It’s the result of hard work, luck, and opportunity.

Looking back, I can’t discount the sacrifices my family made to get where we are today. But I also can’t discount specific moments we had working in our favor. One example: my second-grade teacher, Ms. Weiland. A few months into the year, Ms. Weiland informed my parents about our school’s gifted program. Students tracked into this program in elementary school would usually end up in honors and Advanced Placement classes in high school — classes necessary for gaining admission into prestigious colleges.

My parents, unfamiliar with our education system, didn’t understand any of this. But Ms. Weiland went out of her way to explain it to them. She also persuaded school administrators to test me for entrance into the program, and with her support, I eventually earned a spot.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ms. Weiland’s persistence ultimately influenced my acceptance into Brown University. No matter how hard I worked or what grades I received, without gifted placement I could never have reached the academic classes necessary for an Ivy League school. Without that first opportunity given to me by Ms. Weiland, my entire educational trajectory would have changed.

The philosopher Seneca said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” But in the United States, too often people work hard every day, and yet never receive the opportunities that I did — an opportunity as simple as a teacher advocating on their behalf. Statistically, students of color remain consistently undiscovered by teachers who often , intentionally or not, choose mostly white, high-income students to enter advanced or “gifted” programs , regardless of their qualifications. Upon entering college, I met several students from across the country who also remained stuck within their education system until a teacher helped them find a way out.

Research has proved that these inconsistencies in opportunity exist in almost every aspect of American life. Your race can determine whether you interact with police, whether you are allowed to buy a house , and even whether your doctor believes you are really in pain . Your gender can determine whether you receive funding for your startup or whether your attempts at professional networking are effective. Your “foreign-sounding” name can determine whether someone considers you qualified for a job. Your family’s income can determine the quality of your public school or your odds that your entrepreneurial project succeeds .

These opportunities make a difference. They have created a society where most every American is working hard and yet only a small segment are actually moving forward. Knowing all this, I am no longer naive enough to believe the American dream is possible for everyone who attempts it. The United States doesn’t lack people trying. What it lacks is an equal playing field of opportunity.

2) Accomplishing the American dream can be socially alienating

Throughout my life, my family and I knew this uncomfortable truth: To better our future, we would have to enter spaces that felt culturally and racially unfamiliar to us. When I was 4 years old, my parents moved our family to a predominantly white part of town, so I could attend the county’s best public schools. I was often one of the only students of color in my gifted and honors programs. This trend continued in college and afterward: As an English major, I was often the only person of color in my literature and creative writing classes. As a teacher, I was often one of few teachers of color at my school or in my teacher training programs.

While attending Brown, a student of color once told me: “Our education is really just a part of our gradual ascension into whiteness.” At the time I didn’t want to believe him, but I came to understand what he meant: Often, the unexpected price for academic success is cultural abandonment.

In a piece for the New York Times , Vicki Madden described how education can create this “tug of war in [your] soul”:

To stay four years and graduate, students have to come to terms with the unspoken transaction: exchanging your old world for a new world, one that doesn’t seem to value where you came from. … I was keen to exchange my Western hardscrabble life for the chance to be a New York City middle-class museum-goer. I’ve paid a price in estrangement from my own people, but I was willing. Not every 18-year-old will make that same choice, especially when race is factored in as well as class.

So many times throughout my life, I’ve come home from classes, sleepovers, dinner parties, and happy hours feeling the heaviness of this exchange. I’ve had to Google cultural symbols I hadn’t understood in these conversations (What is “Harper’s”? What is “après-ski”?). At the same time, I remember using academia jargon my family couldn’t understand either. At a Christmas party, a friend called me out for using “those big Ivy League words” in a conversation. My parents had trouble understanding how independent my lifestyle had become and kept remarking on how much I had changed. Studying abroad, moving across the country for internships, living alone far away from family after graduating — these were not choices my Latin American parents had seen many women make.

An official from Brown told the Boston Globe that similar dynamics existed with many first-generation college students she worked with: “Often, [these students] come to college thinking that they want to return home to their communities. But an Ivy League education puts them in a different place — their language is different, their appearance is different, and they don’t fit in at home anymore, either.”

A Haitian-American friend of mine from college agreed: “After going to college, interacting with family members becomes a conflicted zone. Now you’re the Ivy League cousin who speaks a certain way, and does things others don’t understand. It changes the dynamic in your family entirely.”

A Latina friend of mine from Oakland felt this when she got accepted to the University of Southern California. She was the first person from her to family to leave home to attend college, and her conservative extended family criticized her for leaving home before marriage.

“One night they sat me down, told me my conduct was shameful and was staining the reputation of the family,” she told me, “My family thought a woman leaving home had more to do with her promiscuity than her desire for an education. They told me, ‘You’re just going to Los Angeles so you can have the freedom to be with whatever guy you want.’ When I think about what was most hard about college, it wasn’t the academics. It was dealing with my family’s disapproval of my life.”

We don’t acknowledge that too often, achievement in the United States means this gradual isolation from the people we love most. By simply striving toward American success, many feel forced to make to make that choice.

3) The American dream makes us focus single-mindedly on wealth and prestige

When I spoke to an Asian-American friend from college, he told me, “In the Asian New Jersey community I grew up in, I was surrounded by parents and friends whose mentality was to get high SAT scores, go to a top college, and major in medicine, law, or investment banking. No one thought outside these rigid tracks.” When he entered Brown, he followed these expectations by starting as a premed, then switching his major to economics.

This pattern is common in the Ivy League: Studies show that Ivy League graduates gravitate toward jobs with high salaries or prestige to justify the work and money we put into obtaining an elite degree. As a child of immigrants, there’s even more pressure to believe this is the only choice.

Of course, financial considerations are necessary for survival in our society. And it’s healthy to consider wealth and prestige when making life decisions, particularly for those who come from backgrounds with less privilege. But to what extent has this concern become an unhealthy obsession? For those who have the privilege of living a life based on a different set of values, to what extent has the American dream mindset limited our idea of success?

The Harvard Business Review reported that over time, people from past generations have begun to redefine success. As they got older, factors like “family happiness,” “relationships,” “balancing life and work,” and “community service” became more important than job titles and salaries. The report quoted a man in his 50s who said he used to define success as “becoming a highly paid CEO.” Now he defines it as “striking a balance between work and family and giving back to society.”

• Vox First Person: If ambition is ruining your life, you need to read Thoreau

While I spent high school and college focusing on achieving an Ivy League degree, and a prestigious job title afterward, I didn’t think about how other values mattered in my own notions of success. But after I took a “gap year” at 24 to travel, I realized that the way I’d defined the American dream was incomplete: It was not only about getting an education and a good job but also thinking about how my career choices contributed to my overall well-being. And it was about gaining experiences aside from my career, like travel . It was about making room for things like creativity, spirituality , and adventure when making important decisions in my life.

Courtney E. Martin addressed this in her TED talk called “The New Better Off,” where she said: “The biggest danger is not failing to achieve the American dream. The biggest danger is achieving a dream that you don’t actually believe in.”

Those realizations ultimately led me to pursue my current work as a travel writer. Whenever I have the privilege to do so, I attempt what Martin calls “the harder, more interesting thing”: to “compose a life where what you do every single day, the people you give your best love and ingenuity and energy to, aligns as closely as possible with what you believe.”

4) Even if you achieve the American dream, that doesn’t necessarily mean other Americans will accept you

A few years ago, I was working on my laptop in a hotel lobby, waiting for reception to process my booking. I wore leather boots, jeans, and a peacoat. A guest of the hotel approached me and began shouting in slow English (as if I couldn’t understand otherwise) that he needed me to clean his room. I was 25, had an Ivy League degree, and had completed one of the most competitive programs for college graduates in the country. And yet still I was being confused for the maid.

I realized then that no matter how hard I played by the rules, some people would never see me as a person of academic and professional success. This, perhaps, is the most psychologically disheartening part of the American dream: Achieving it doesn’t necessarily mean we can “transcend” racial stereotypes about who we are.

It just takes one look at the rhetoric by current politicians to know that as first-generation Americans, we are still not seen as “American” as others. As so many cases have illustrated recently, no matter how much we focus on proving them wrong, negative perceptions from others will continue to challenge our sense of self-worth.

For black immigrants or children of immigrants, this exclusionary messaging is even more obvious. Kari Mugo, a writer who immigrated to the US from Kenya when she was 18, expressed to me the disappointment she has felt trying to feel welcomed here: “It’s really hard to make an argument for a place that doesn’t want you, and shows that every single day. It’s been 12 years since I came here, and each year I’m growing more and more disillusioned.”

I still cherish my college years, and still feel immensely proud to call myself an Ivy League graduate. I am humbled by my parents’ sacrifices that allowed me to live the comparatively privileged life I’ve had. I acknowledge that it is in part because of this privilege that I can offer a critique of the United States in the first place. My parents and other immigrant families who focused only on survival didn’t have the luxury of being critical.

Yet having that luxury, I think it’s important to vocalize that in the United States, living the dream is far more nuanced than we often make others believe. As Mugo told me, “My friends back in Kenya always receive the message that America is so great. But I always wonder why we don’t ever tell the people back home what it’s really like. We always give off the illusion that everything is fine, without also acknowledging the many ways life here is really, really hard.”

I deeply respect the choices my parents made, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunities the United States provided. But at this point in my family’s journey, I am curious to see what happens when we begin exploring a different dream.

Amanda Machado is a writer, editor, content strategist, and facilitator who works with publications and nonprofits around the world. You can learn more about her work at her website .

First Person is Vox’s home for compelling, provocative narrative essays. Do you have a story to share? Read our submission guidelines , and pitch us at [email protected] .

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COLLEGE ESSAYS ABOUT IMMIGRANT PARENTS

College essays about immigrant parents have been part of the curriculum for ages. It is sporadic for students to get a forum allowing them to share their experiences with fellow students and lecturers. Their incorporation into the education system is to allow the appreciation of immigrant students and their backgrounds. Therefore, college essays on immigrant parents create a space to learn more about various upbringings, creating a newly found respect for people’s experiences.

This article will highlight various aspects of essays concerning immigrant parents. The importance of these essays, challenges faced by immigrant parents and their impact on the children, examples of college essays on immigrant parents, and tips on how to write these essays will be discussed in the article.

Importance of college essays on immigrant parents

The education system in the 21 st century has had applaudable efforts in integrating various aspects within the curriculum. Appreciation elements incorporated in the syllabus have also brought solutions to problems among school students, such as harassment and bullying. In addition, giving insights into people’s backgrounds allows students to fledge admiration and respect for their counterparts. The following are the importance of COLLEGE ESSAYS ABOUT IMMIGRANT PARENTS:

• Appreciating people’s backgrounds and culture

The best form of education is acquired through experience. Students have sat through several history lessons highlighting Mexican or Hispanic history. However, nothing beats these lessons, such as one-on-one engagement with a fellow student which foreign roots. Interaction with these students allows more insight into their backgrounds and culture. With a spice of school-organized events such as cultural days, students experience the magnificence of other cultures surrounding them and get a slice of the world’s vastness.

College essays also give acumens on the struggles encountered by immigrant parents as they try to provide the best for their children. 

• Creating diversity within the institution.

The spectacle of having students gracing the colleges with their differences can be whimsical. Likewise, experiencing people in their cultural and national attires would be a sight to admire. However, due to college policies or the embarrassment of embracing one’s roots, it may be challenging to identify the diversity of cultures and nationalities within an institution.

College essays on immigrant parents spark and promote diversity within an institution. It also allows students to know and treat each other better after acquiring knowledge of their counterpart’s histories and backgrounds. Learning about the nationalities of students within the institution may also promote events set to appreciate the diversity and various opportunities offered to them.

• Sheds more light on how to treat immigrant students

Knowledge is power, and the lack of it may cast blindness on essential aspects required for smooth development. Immigrant students or students with immigrant parents have been subject to harassment and bullying for ages. They have also been socially cast out and considered different. Progressively, this has created unadmirable traits such as fear, anxiety, depression, and stress. 

Essays about immigrant students or students with immigrant parents may bring many to tears. Most of these students have encountered daunting challenges to be graced with college opportunities. These essays, therefore, offer guidance to students and lecturing s on how to treat these students. The papers allow the identification of triggers and discernment of ways to tread with the students and make them feel welcomed and cozy within the school environment.

• Finding out your roots.

It would be ignorant to assume that all students cognize their roots. Parents may have wanted to shield their children from their struggle stories or may not have found it necessary to make their children aware of their backgrounds. College essays on immigrant parents allow students to dig further into their roots and experiences. It also allows them to appreciate their parents’ efforts in raising and providing their amenities.

• Morphing new perspectives

The mind is like a river that flows to no bounds. Limiting the reason would be challenging, as it is natural to want to experience it.

According to travel advisors, one main reason for travel is to free your mind from being jammed in a furrow. Our environment highly constitutes our behaviors and characteristics. The mind goes as far as the eyes can see and the ears hear. New and captivating experiences change the game plan and improve our perspectives.

Interactions with students from various backgrounds are ideal for creating new perspectives. It allows you to learn that viewpoints are not always similar, and there is plenty more to learn about beyond our environment. Trying out new cultures and foods will leave a raw and unexplored craving in your mind, which drives you to significant ends, thus acquiring new perspectives on life.

Challenges faced by immigrant parents

Every parent dreams that their children encounter a better life than they did. Immigrant parents often get too engrossed in setting out for greener pastures, and their children may not realize their challenges.

Immigrant parents have been in dire straits as they look to provide a better future for their children. The challenges faced by immigrant parents include:

• Fear of being deported

Daunting thoughts of fear of being banished have terrorized the minds of immigrant parents for far too long. History has had far too many cases of immigrants being expedited back to their original countries. Some homeland countries do not have appropriate policies to cater to and protect their citizens in foreign countries. Visa and passport hiccups have been recorded among immigrants, sending them back to their countries for a fault that was not theirs. The change in management may also threaten immigrants when an order by a new president is issued, thus sending them back to their original countries.

This has subsequently been challenging for parents, as they fear for their children in case such ordeals happen.

• Fitting into a new country

Embracing new experiences and environments can be nerve-wracking, especially when doing it alone. The experiences faced by immigrant parents as they try to fit into a new country would be terrifying even to the sturdiest guru. Immigrant parents have faced the challenges of acquiring new jobs, enrolling their children in schools, and finding a neighborhood to raise them. Most have had to do all these without a mentor or acquittance to assist them. Looking back at your success can be emotionally gratifying, but the process can shatter you into a million pieces.

• Struggle to adapt to new cultures and languages

Imagine having to learn Russian or Mandarin as a native American of 35 years. Unfathomable, right? Survival in these new places would feel impossible, but most immigrant parents were accorded with these challenges, and they made it. In the 21 st century, this may not strike you as a challenge due to technologies such as Google Translate or Duolingo. 

However, immigrant parents encountered language barriers and culture shocks. Nothing may have prepared them on what to expect. Many might have also suffered an identity crisis and were forced to cocoon their original cultures and languages for smooth adaptation.

• Financial pressure

Moving and settling into a new country is financially draining. Factors such as securing a house or buying a car may become challenging due to a weak credit score. Many immigrants have returned to their original countries after facing financial difficulties. Paired with the challenge of securing a job, this matter has frustrated parents and created fear of sustaining their families in foreign countries. 

• Discrimination and prejudice

Prejudice against nationality, culture, color, and other differences has posed many difficulties for immigrant parents. As a result, the intention of providing a better future for children can become clouded due to fear of their children experiencing prejudice or racism. For example, immigrants from Syrian or Arabic countries may often be prejudiced as terrorists. The biases may be due to news exacerbated and consumed by people.

Impact of these challenges on the children

The difficulties cited may have the following effects on the children

• Fear of being left alone

Due to the fear of the deportation of immigrant parents, children may live on the edge in fear of this uncertainty. The fear of fending for themselves may cause disorientation in their academic as well as personal lives

• Goal orientation and hard work

Most children with immigrant parents may develop the urge to be hardworking and develop skills in goal orientation. This is after the understanding that a golden spoon is forged on fire and force after sharing their parents’ experiences. The fear of disappointing their parents may also work as a motivation

• Pressure to become successful

Parents are instrumental influencers in the shaping of children’s futures. However, due to the formidable experience encountered by parents, children may gain pressure to ensure their success. This successively leads to anxiety and depression, or even resentment against their immigrant parents, pushing them to greater levels.

• The pressure of being discontinued from schools

Financial constraints on a parent may influence a child’s performance. Fear of being chased out of school due to fee arrears may subsequently degrade the performance in school. Fear of being embarrassed among other students may also create social anxiety.

Examples of college essays about immigrant parents

There are plenty of examples in college essays about immigrant parents. Accessing straightforward samples on the internet can sometimes be sapping. However,  writemyessays.com is a companion to students streamlining their educational process and helping them bag that degree. 

An example of an essay of immigrant parents is one of an Assyrian student in America. The student explains how petrifying it was to adapt and fit in. The pressure of fitting in was numbing to the point of wanting to look like the American kids and having a ‘normal’ name. Having strict Middle Eastern Parents felt like a step back in her favor, as they would emphasize accommodation and retaining their culture through matters such as dressing. The parents also restricted interactions with other children, hence struggling to relate with her peers.

However, their experiences in navigating life as young immigrants were helpful to the student since her parents enabled her to embrace her identity retrospectively without shedding her personality as they had. Eventually, the child appreciates her parents’ efforts, especially in preserving their culture. She also developed better judgment, was true to herself, and followed her dreams.

Another example of immigrant parents is a student who witnessed his mother rise from tragedy to grace. The immigrant parent had faced many challenges, and being widowed made her accustomed to providing for her four children. She had to work more than 60 hours a week to sustain her family. His mother, unfortunately, fell ill, and the student took it upon himself to fend for his mother. His academics significantly suffered due to his engrossment in employment. The student sustained while trying to attain a balance through these tasks. However, he was able to place his mother on an insurance plan and finish the mortgage on their house.

Having an immigrant parent sprouted the student’s hard work. But, despite the challenges, he also gained sustenance skills and resilience, which eventually put him on the path of being a teacher.

Tips for writing essays on immigrant parents

• Write about yourself truthfully and your life experience with your immigrant parent.

No one can fit into your shoes as well as you would. Only you know where it pinches and where it sags. Student experiences with immigrant parents are unique to them. As you write your story, believe that it is the best. Avoid the notions of what to write and to avoid. Let your thoughts flow through the paper, and share your authentic experience through the voice of words. Mimicking other people’s experiences will create an off-balance and cause you to lose your etch.

• Create a vivid explanation

Everyone has a story to tell. Several other students have compelling experiences to captivate the college admission officers. It is all a matter of how well you tell and describe your report to create higher stakes for your competitor. 

You can create a mirage with the right words and allow your audience to experience with you. Paint an arresting image of your experience with an immigrant parent. Describe your journey vividly and showcase how your immigrant parents have influenced aspects of your life through their experience and sacrifice. Vividly showcase how their challenges have been instrumental through your academic life and all steps encountered to allow you to experience life as it is. Remember also to depict how they overcame stumbling blocks along their path.

• Focus on how you solved the problem

A common mistake students make while writing essays on immigrant parents is focusing too much on the challenges encountered. It is appropriate to give reverence to hiccups immigrant parents may have experienced in the quest for greener pastures. However, too much wallowing in the challenges beats the point of the essay.

Therefore, students must avoid pity cards. Instead, highlight the issues and problems you have encountered briefly. Then, to outline the light at the end of the tunnel, explain how your parents rose above their challenges. Describe how their encounters have made you a better individual and how their sacrifices have shaped your life and future.

• Avoid clichés

This advice, as it is, is already a cliché. Nevertheless, this advice is at the tip of every lecturer’s tongue. However, as repetitive and vague as it may be, students must avoid clichés in their articles.

Your story may be the average dust to grace. However, one way to avoid clichés when writing about immigrant parents is to think of it’s your parents’ biography. Since you would want it to be the best and most tremendous moving story the college admission officers have ever read, try as much to avoid clichés. Customize your essay to your experience and be creative about it. 

• Make the essay about you, not your parents.

This may sound tricky, primarily because the essay requires you to write about your immigrant parents. However, the report must highlight your experience with them and how their being immigrants have influenced your life

Speak about the challenges you may have encountered and vividly describe how their challenges ulteriorly impacted you. Then, create your rainbow of the experience and highlight how their sacrifice has positively impacted you. It is also vital to include adapted characters gained as a result and how they will be helpful through your life as a student and even in the future.

Shaun Hick quotes that people need to spend more time in the shadows to appreciate standing in the sun. Immigrant parents’ efforts may often go unnoticed by children and society. Schools have awarded a forum for discussing these experiences and chiseling an understanding to the children on the struggles encountered. Through essays on immigrant parents, students can observe life through a magnified lens, thus allowing them to be more appreciative of the life conferred to them by their parents.

With the tips provided, you can now furnish your immigrant parents’ story that will move the audiences to share in your experience and render their hats down in respect. 

Lesley Hummings

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Every obstacle is an opportunity by Sofia

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Every obstacle is an opportunity by Sofia - June 2016 Scholarship Essay

As the first-born child of immigrant parents, I had to navigate the American college application process without my parents’ help. My As the first-born child of immigrant parents, I had to navigate the American college application process without my parents’ help. My mother did not attend college, and my father pursued his undergraduate degree in Argentina. Having moved to the US from Argentina in their 40s, my parents were entirely unfamiliar with the complicated and challenging process. As a shy and awkward 16-year-old dealing with insecurities of my own, I sought out people to talk to—college counselors, current students at universities I was applying to—and little by little I began to understand the details of the American college experience. Although still in high school, I began to realize the importance of being proactive and staying motivated to overcome these challenges. I did the same once I arrived at college: I took every opportunity to speak with professors, classmates, and alumni who could offer me a new perspective and a word of advice. Many of these mentors opened my eyes to available scholarships, study abroad opportunities, and fellowships, such as Fulbright, each of which reinforced my desire to study law. In the Spring of 2014, I was the first person in my family to graduate from an American university. I graduated cum laude with a double major in Sociology (with Honors) and International Studies, and with a minor in Business Institutions. This fall, I will be the first person in my family to attend graduate school. For first-generation immigrants like me, we often have to work twice as hard to succeed. Part of it can be due to language barriers; for example, when I arrived to the US during elementary school, I did not speak a word of English. This meant I had to attend ESL (English as a Second Language) classes while attending school in order to catch up to my classmates. Despite these challenges growing up, I stayed motivated and continuously looked for ways to challenge myself academically. Growing up bilingual, I have learned to appreciate and value multiculturalism and cross-border communication. I am a native Spanish and English speaker, I have advanced proficiency in French and Portuguese, and an intermediate level of Italian. My languages not only broaden the base of people I can work and communicate with, but also allow insight into different cultures at a deeper level—a crucial element in the field of international law.

Throughout my time as an undergraduate and the two years following graduation, I have also sought out opportunities to become engaged in my community and contribute in a meaningful way, whether by volunteering or taking on leadership positions at my university. I hope to do the same during law school and I am committed to becoming the best attorney I can be. Through the obstacles I have overcome- particularly academic and social obstacles- I have learned that every challenge is an opportunity to become a stronger and more dedicated student and professional.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, how should i approach writing about being a first-generation immigrant in my college essay.

Hello everyone, I'm a first-generation immigrant, and I'm considering writing my college essay about my experiences. I want to make sure I convey my story effectively without sounding too cliché. Any tips or advice on how to approach this topic would be greatly appreciated!

Hello! Writing about your experiences as a first-generation immigrant can be a great way to showcase your unique background and perspective. To ensure your essay stands out, focus on including specific anecdotes or moments that are authentic to you and help demonstrate your growth, resilience, and adaptability.

When sharing your story, try to create a connection between the challenges you faced as an immigrant and how they shaped your identity, values, or personal growth. Colleges appreciate students who bring diverse perspectives to their campuses, so be sure to highlight any skills or insights you've gained through your experiences.

Additionally, it's essential to avoid generalizations or stereotypes about immigrants. Instead, concentrate on conveying your individual story and emphasize how it has molded you into the person you are today. An example could be discussing how adapting to a new culture has impacted your educational journey and how this experience will contribute to the college community.

Best of luck with your essay, and remember to let your unique voice shine through in your writing!

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Pressures of being a first generation American-born citizen

Everyone deals with struggles when coming across certain obstacles at some point in their lives. However, there are people that are constantly feeling a weight on their shoulders due to the pressure of their parents. Not just any parents, but immigrant parents.

Many of our university’s students, including myself, are first generation American- born citizens. A great part of the reason why children of immigrant parents attend school is for their parents. There is a sort of duty first generation children have in regards to what their parents may think. For example, our parents travel hundreds of thousands of miles from their homeland to a foreign country in hopes that they will have a better future.

I feel that I have no other choice but to continue going to school and getting my degrees, and having a successful life in order to make my parents proud. My father always mentions my future in education and plans out where he seems my life going. I always feel a pressure to please my parents because they gave up so much to come to America.

Accounting major Manvel Dilovyan says, “Being the oldest son of immigrant parents who moved to America 24 years ago, I have always tried to make my parents proud and live up to their expectations. The reason why they moved here was so their children can have a better future and education. An experience I encountered was constantly filling out applications or calling vendors, for example, and speaking on their behalf.”

He explains that he is constantly seeking approval and hopes to make his parents proud. This is something most first generation children experience, they go to school and work hard in order to live out the “American Dream.”

The struggles that come with having immigrant parents may include constant seeking of approval, always having to be responsible, as well as immigrant parents discussing the future that they may have already planned for their child. More often than not, immigrant parents constantly remind their child, or children, that they expect big and great things from them in the future, which is part of why they came to this country.

Aside from having immigrant parents, there are students that also migrated to this country with their parents, or family, at a young age. Not only do they come to a new and foreign country, but there is also a huge language barrier.

CSUN alumna and former Communication Studies Lecturer, Nina H. Kotelyan says, “Struggles are amplified when you’re an immigrant. My family and I moved from Armenia to the United States in the mid ’90s with high hopes. We escaped war. When you have a background like that, you are taught to value and respect your cultural traditions, values, beliefs and attitudes. You’re taught these things because you’re under the constant threat of forgetting them as you acculturate to the American culture. I love my family history and the history of my Armenian people. Growing up, I was also taught to make my family proud. How could I not? My sweet mother left her entire family in a warzone for a better future for her children. How could I not make her move worthwhile?”

Those of us who have immigrant parents know what it is like to feel the pressure. There are times when the child may feel like giving up because the pressure to succeed and make his or her parents proud might be too much to handle.

Kotelyan says, “My biggest struggle was finishing graduate school & learning to truly live in this highly competitive & individualistic American culture. With the idea of making my parents proud at the forefront of my path, I learned to juggle multiple roles and identities,” she continues,”When you’re young, the culture shock doesn’t feel real. The culture shock felt real when I entered the real world as an adult. For the record, the culture shock is omnipresent. It never goes away. But, we learn to manage it every day of our lives to make our parents proud. My parents gave up their home in exchange for a future for their children, as did many immigrant parents. My heart, of course, goes out to them.”

There is no secret that CSUN has an immensely diverse student population and various services the university provides for them. One worth mentioning assists “historically low-income, historically educationally disadvantaged, first-generation college students; a population that not only reflects the diversity of CSUN’s feeder communities but also the diversity of the University itself,” as stated on the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) website. The program provides mentoring, application assistance, as well as financial support through the EOP Grant for those who are eligible.

Living the life of a child with immigrant parents can be difficult and full of obstacles; however, the outcome of the journey will hopefully lead to making parents proud.

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A high school student wrote an inspiring college essay about advocating for her immigrant parents

Peter jacobs   .

Georgetown University, where Carolina Sosa will attend

The essay chronicles the difficulties Sosa faces in trying to help her parents. In a standout section, Sosa describes how she "sadly understood" why her father couldn't get a job at a convenience store - and then lied to him to hide the real reason why he wasn't hired.

Dave, the chubby convenience store cashier who interviewed Sosa's father, told her, "Listen, girl. He's over 60 and speaks no English. There is no way we would hire him." However, Sosa told her father that Dave had just remembered the store had actually hired someone for the open position the day before.

Sosa elaborates on how hard the job hunt has been for her and her parents:

Job searching is difficult for everyone, but in a world full of Daves, it's almost impossible. Daves are people who look at my family and immediately think less of us. They think illegal, poor and uneducated. Daves never allow my dad to pass the first round of job applications. Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores. Daves inconsiderately correct my mother's grammar. Because there are Daves in the world, I have become a protector for my family. I excuse their behavior as just being a "typical American." I convince my mother that they are only staring at her lovely new purse. I convince my dad they are only shouting about store sales to us. Aside from being a protector, I am also an advocate. As an advocate, I make sure my family is never taken advantage of. I am always looking out for scams and discrepancies. I am the one asking the questions when we buy or sell a car. I make sure all details are discussed and no specifics are left unanswered.

Sosa also touches on the benefits of growing up in America.

"From caring public school teachers to subsidized lunches, the United States has put me on a path to success," she writes. "Undoubtedly this path wasn't always paved, but rugged and relentless feet have carried me along."

Currently a student at Westfield High School in Centreville, Virginia, Carolina Sosa will attend Georgetown in the fall, where she plans to study public service, politics, or diplomacy. You can read her full college essay at The New York Times.

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Op-Ed: The immigrant experience, as told by college essays

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For more than 20 years, Marcos M. Villatoro has read and graded hundreds of essays about immigration as a writing teacher at Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles. Here are excerpts from two student essays.

‘What if this coyotaje stole her daughter?’

I don’t know whether my mother left my father or whether she tried to get him to come with us to America. I like to think that my dad didn’t want us to leave, but my mom chose herself and [me] rather than a man who wanted to hold her back from all the infinite possibilities a new life in America could only give her. Only she and I crossed the border. We went on an airplane. The winds howled and the rain felt like it shook our plane. I screamed every time I saw the lightning and heard the thunder that followed. I was 4 and this is one of the truths I wish I could forget.

I was later told that when we landed, my mother was instructed by a coyotaje to separate from me and allow me to go with her and pretend she was my mother. They said it was so we could all blend in better. My mother refused. What if this coyotaje stole her daughter? There would be no way to track me down. The police wouldn’t help her, her family wouldn’t be able to help her because those that were already in America barely had a faint grasp of it and those who were in Mexico could do even less.

— Diana Rodriguez, who graduated in 2018

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‘The day that my uncle got deported’

Santa Fe del Rio, Michoacán, is where I am from. I was brought into a new country with no self-expectation nor self-identity. I did not understand what it meant to be far from home until one day, the news [came] that my grandparents’ visa was no longer valid and due to circumstances, they could not apply for a renewal. The day that my uncle got deported is the day when I was old enough to understand that odds are, I probably won’t ever see them again.

For a good period of my life, I did not care about the fact that I was and am undocumented, however the time to apply to college began and I noticed that being undocumented according to others is who I am. ... When the personal statements were due, my college counselors would repeatedly tell me to write about being undocumented, but I soon came to realize that being undocumented doesn’t make me. ... Esa no soy yo (That’s not me).

— E.O., a student who asked to be identified only by her initials

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Growing Up in America With Immigrant Parents

I wrote about how my parents taught me to love who I am by being true to myself.

 Being Assyrian has always been a huge part of my identity. As a child I felt so embarrassed to be who I am. No one had ever taught me to feel that way, I just didn't like how different my life seemed to be, compared to the other kids from my school. I had a unibrow and I had to take ESL classes because I was raised learning a mix of Aramaic and English. I refused to speak Aramaic publically. I was so ashamed of all of these things for some reason. I just wanted to be like the other kids at my school, blonde hair and blue eyes with a “normal” name. I hated my brown hair, brown eyes, my unibrow, and my “odd” name (Amena).

As I grew older, I started to become more accepting towards my background. This started happening around middle school age. I realized that there was no reason for me to be ashamed. I still felt different though. No matter how much I adapted I was still being raised differently from everyone else. My parents were always more strict that the others. They wouldn't let me hangout with certain people, I was never allowed to go to sleepovers, I couldn't wear certain clothes because they were “too revealing” even if everyone else in my grade was allowed to. I think that these are just things that you have to deal with when you have Middle Eastern parents. Things that were so normal for every other kid seemed to be so unbelievably offensive to my parents. I used to think it was so frustrating to deal with this.

To this day I still struggle with their grip. I can sometimes understand and appreciate why they raised me this way. As immigrants in America they dealt with a lot of the same feelings as I felt when I was younger. They struggled with not fitting in as a child just like me. When my mother's family moved here she was only a year old. She was raised in Davisburg Pennsylvania, she didn't have anyone to relate to around her other than her siblings. She had it so much worse than I did but today she loves being who she is. My dad moved to America when he was nine. He was raised in Detroit Michigan and in attempt to fit in he had to sacrifice some of his identity. Today I see him as the one of the most confident, down to earth people on this planet. He always stresses to me that I couldn't make a bigger mistake that being fake with myself. I think that all this time my parents were trying to point me in that direction. They wanted me to love who I am. They didn't want me to try so hard to be something i'm not just because I wanted to blend in. Instead they taught me how to stay true to myself and how to be comfortable in my own skin

Although it was frustrating at times I think overall it benefited me to be raised this way. I learned to do what's best for myself and have good judgment. They taught me to be comfortable in my own skin and put myself first. They taught me that no ones opinion matters except my own. Here in America you are able to do almost anything you'd want as long as you give it your all. Being true to myself is the only way for me identify my dreams. My parents wanted to make sure that I had my priorities straight so that I can focus on what's important.

It's ironic how I learned one of the most important American values from my immigrant parents. I thought this whole time that their “Middle Eastern morals” would separate me from everyone else but really they were what made me feel comfortable with myself now. They really have taught me so much about how to live a good, happy, healthy, American life! Today I live to please myself and the ones I love only. I know now that I don’t have to attempt to make everyone like me. I do what I please while still being reasonable and respectful. The only person really judging me is myself. I live by these morals and i couldn't be any more stress free.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Immigrants — The Struggles of Having Immigrant Parents

The Struggles of Having Immigrant Parents

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Published: Sep 12, 2023

Words: 699 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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Language barriers, cultural clashes, economic struggles, identity and belonging, the rewards of resilience.

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Between Two Worlds - Growing Up With Immigrant Parents

By Anonymous Young Adult

Growing up with immigrant parents while living in America can make us feel like we are the product of two cultures in one person.

When I was growing up, the aroma of home-cooked Persian dishes filled our home. We had parties where we would sing and dance to Iranian music, and we only spoke Persian or Farsi at home. Farsi was my first language and the only language I spoke until I started going to school. Once I started school I began to learn more about American culture. I wanted to fit in with my school friends. I would get embarrassed To feel awkward or ashamed. when my grandma would come pick me up from school and would look for me while shouting my Persian name. I asked my parents to pack me sandwiches and ‘normal foods’ so kids wouldn’t make fun of the smell of my ethnic food, and I completely stopped speaking Farsi. I started to feel embarrassed To feel awkward or ashamed. by anything that made me different from my peers. My mom would always tell me, “You should be proud to be Iranian. We come from a rich culture and history.” At the time, this statement didn’t really mean anything to me because all I wanted was to be accepted by the other students at school.

Later in middle school and high school, it became even harder to have immigrant parents. At the time, many of my friends started to gain independence. They would hang out after school, sleep over at each other’s houses, and go to the movies or the mall on the weekends. These were all things that I wasn’t allowed to do because my parents believed it was unsafe. Like many immigrant parents, mine emphasized Give special importance to something. hard work and education and said that I should focus my time and energy on getting good grades. This only made me resent them more.

As I got older, my parents shared more about their lives growing up during a war in Iran and the many challenges they faced to come to America. They spoke of the history of Iran, the great poets and artists that made up our culture, the spices and flavors that made our food rich, and the many ethnic groups and their clothing, dance, and languages that make Iran what it is. When I moved away from my parents' home and lived completely on my own in a city where there weren’t many people who looked like me, I began to really think about my mother’s statement, that I should be proud to be Iranian, and really began to believe it. All of those differences that I thought made me strange or weird to my peers, are what make me resilient Able to spring back from something difficult. , beautiful and empowered now.

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Cultural clashes can make it harder for immigrants to parent. Better support can improve their child’s mental health

Professor of Psychology, Monash University

PhD Candidate, Monash University

Disclosure statement

Marie Yap receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund. She is affiliated with Monash University's School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health. She is on the Board of Directors for the Parenting And Family Research Alliance, and co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee and member of the Steering Committee of Growing Minds Australia. Marie is also the founder and lead researcher for the Parenting Strategies Program and the Partners in Parenting program.

Sunita B Bapuji works for the Australian Health Regulation Agency (Ahpra) as a Research and Evaluation Officer.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

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More than 10% of children and young people worldwide have a diagnosable mental health problem . If these problems are not detected and treated, children may suffer the same or other mental health problems in adulthood .

So, preventing mental health problems in children is a global priority.

At the same time, the number of immigrants in Western countries such as Australia is rising – and they face many culture-related challenges in a new country. These challenges can affect parenting and their children’s mental health.

Parents have an important role in children’s mental health. They can help them develop positive self-esteem and manage stress, which can prevent anxiety and depression. So immigrant parents may benefit from tailored parenting support as they adjust to a new country, so they can support their children’s mental health.

Parenting programs reaching where they are needed

Governments worldwide are recognising the importance of preventing mental health problems in children and are setting aside money for mental health promotion and treatment .

In 2022, the Australian government invested A$40.6 million to make the evidence-based online parenting program Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) more widely available to support children’s mental health and wellbeing (aged up to 11 years).

Australia’s headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation also made the individually tailored Partners in Parenting online program available in 2023 for parents of adolescents aged 12–18.

Parents can sign up for these online programs and work through the modules, which include interactive reflection activities and videos, in their own time.

Similar programs are available in other Western countries.

But such programs are still not reaching enough immigrant families who have moved to Western countries , including in Australia.

Our research explored how immigrant parents raise their children and how it affects immigrant children’s mental health. With that knowledge, we can adapt parenting programs to better support migrant parents as they get used to parenting in their new home country.

What did we do?

We combined the results of 56 research studies from seven countries on immigrant parenting and children’s mental health . We found the ways parenting can affect children’s mental health are mostly the same for immigrant and non-immigrant families .

For example, when parents are more caring and supportive, and are aware of what their children are up to when they’re not with them, children are more likely to have good mental health.

On the other hand, children may be more likely to develop mental health problems in families with frequent conflict between parents, or between parents and children, and where parents are not available for their children or have poor mental health themselves.

There is, however, a specific problem called “acculturative conflict”, where children and parents clash over cultural differences , including how to parent according to their culture of origin versus Australian expectations. These clashes pose a specific risk for poor mental health for immigrant children.

What is acculturation?

Acculturation happens when people are exposed to a new culture (such as values, beliefs, language, customs and practices) and attempt to adjust and incorporate them into their daily lives .

Parents and children go through the acculturation process of adjusting to a new culture . Parents do this through work or interactions with adults.

But children do this differently. Immigrant children tend to pick up the language and values of Western countries more quickly than their parents. This may be because they are taught these things in daycare or school.

Children want to feel like they belong and fit in with their friends. This is usually a bigger deal for them than it is for adults.

What happens when parent and child acculturation rates differ?

When children acculturate to the new culture faster than their parents, it often leads to family disagreements and conflicts .

Some of the ways these parent-child acculturation conflicts can play out include:

parents showing love for their children by providing shelter, food and a good education. But their children see their friends’ parents expressing physical and verbal affection and wish their own parents would do the same, or feel hurt or resentful that they don’t

parents setting high expectations and strict boundaries to ensure their children do not bring shame upon the family, while their offspring find this excessive and unreasonable

parents expecting their child to behave according to the “proper” standards for people of their cultural background, but young people feel their parents are being too traditional or conservative.

How can we better support parents?

Developers of parenting programs need to work with immigrant communities to adapt their existing programs. This could increase parents’ interest in seeking support and benefit immigrant children’s mental health.

Tailoring existing evidence-based parenting strategies can help immigrant parents minimise acculturative conflicts with their children and better support their children’s mental health and wellbeing.

This would require greater government support and investment in these programs.

In the meantime, immigrant parents can honestly discuss with their children how they would like their parents to express their love and care, and make the effort to do so. For example, does their child feel most loved when the parent says “I love you”, buys them a gift they like, or shows interest in what interests them?

Immigrant parents can help their children understand the reasons behind rules and boundaries, and involve them in shaping expectations. Parents can try to validate their children’s perspectives, even if they don’t always agree with them. Have a family discussion where both parent and child have input into what the expectations are (for example, about screen use or bedtimes) and what the consequences would be if expectations are not met.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 (for people aged 5 to 25).

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How Translating for My Immigrant Parents Affected Me While Growing Up

Child language brokers are children—often from immigrant families—who linguistically translate for family members. I was one of them. Here's what experts have to say.

A guttural cry woke me up from the darkest corral of sleep the night before the big test. I had been studying for weeks under the florescent light at the kitchen table, the scene where a mountain of books and pamphlets about the U.S. government teetered close to a landslide. The test would determine U.S. citizenship, and it wasn't for me—it was for my immigrant parents, who needed my help.

I started translating for my Vietnamese-speaking parents when I was 7, for low stakes situations like asking a department store employee if a pair of pants were on sale. But also in high-pressure situations like when, at all of 9, I helped my frustrated parents translate questions from the citizenship test in the middle of the night.

Honestly, I wasn't a fan of the responsibility. Often, I struggled with the discomfort of speaking to grown-ups about grown-up issues or fumbled for the right words in either language. But translating was a part of growing up in my family, and it's completely normal in new immigrant communities, according to Marjorie Orellana, Ph.D., a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who researches immigrant youth in urban schools and communities. There is even a name for children who translate for their parents: language brokers.

The Impact of Translating for Parents

Child language brokers are children—often from immigrant families—who linguistically translate for family members who do not fluently speak the language of the country they are living in.

Before I knew I was a language broker, I tried hard not to be one. This was before the advent of smartphones and translation apps that likely make language access easier, so when my mom asked 7-year-old me to bargain over the price of apples—an everyday practice in her native Vietnam—at a suburban Los Angeles farmer's market, I did not know how to handle the vendor's angry words taken straight out of an anti-immigrant playbook ("Go back to your country!") or action (throwing the $3 per pound sign at my mom's face).

How, at any age, do you translate big emotions or the contours of racism in American society?

It's a nebulous feeling Juan Alanis, a fellow former child language broker, understands deeply. Alanis is the middle child of seven who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley near the border of Texas and Mexico, translating for his Spanish-speaking parents.

"It wasn't my favorite thing to do," says Alanis, founder and chief content officer of Market Street Consultants in Houston. "I remember that there was a little bit of shame associated because you feel like other people may not understand you."

Alanis once wrote candidly about feeling "degraded" over his parents' lack of English language proficiency. Our conversation is filled with a lot of uh-huhs about shared childhood experiences and how they hit differently as adults. Looking back, our immigrant parents were structurally unsupported with language access, and that says something deeper about society, not families who are just trying to buy apples or groceries.

The Pros and Cons of Translating for Adults

Studies show that more than 90 percent of children of immigrants broker language for their parents at home, school, and grown-up settings like medical and government offices. A lot of early research focused on why language brokering can be psychologically bad for kids . But not every experience is the same.

In her research, Dr. Orellana has talked to many young language brokers who felt different ways about being the spokespeople for their grown-ups. Some felt burdened by the task, while others felt empowered. But overall, Dr. Orellana sees language brokering as a valuable skill. She notes that kids who are language brokers learn sophisticated linguistic and cultural negotiation skills, as well as gain exposure to and mastery of complex grown-up tasks like jury summons and credit card applications. There is also an argument that language brokers are better at seeing things from different perspectives. "That's a highly valued skill in my view," says Dr. Orellana, author of Translating Childhoods: Immigrant Youth, Language, and Culture . "That's what we need more of in the world."

According to Su Yeong Kim, Ph.D., a professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, there are three types of child language brokers: those who are ambivalent about the role, those who are burdened, and those who feel efficacious. The latter language brokers feel proficient in their bilingualism and enjoy better mental and physiological health, says Dr. Kim. But she said only about 30% of participants in her 2018 study reported feeling efficacious. Her research shows that for many kids language brokering stress is real . By measuring the cortisol—a hormone that helps regulate the body's response to stress—levels in participants' saliva, Dr. Kim found medical translation and arithmetic tasks did create a stress response in adolescents, but individual, family, and environmental factors play a role.

How do we increase the number of efficacious language brokers? "It's a real important challenge," says Dr. Kim.

How To Support Child Translators and Their Families

As a kid, I interpreted my mom's annual mammogram reports for her while trying to wrap my young brain around complex medical jargon. But when it came time to navigate my own exams and reports, let's just say I had already done my homework.

Children of immigrant parents are language brokering whether or not we think they should, so how do we provide more support and resources? When a child language broker is translating for you, speak in short phrases, approach the situation as a team effort, and don't forget to thank the translator for their service.

There is a framed picture in my parents' bedroom that is a little washed out with age and exposure, but their smiles are still visible as they hold their little American flags in celebration of becoming full citizens. In college, when I sat for my own U.S. citizenship test and interview, I felt confident. I learned the word "bicameral" at 9-years-old—even though back then I could not successfully translate its meaning to my parents. I look at their picture and feel proud.

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Who Is Tim Walz, the Minnesota Governor Kamala Harris Picked to Be V.P.?

Mr. Walz captured Democrats’ attention with his “weird” takedown of Republicans. Here’s a look at the new vice-presidential candidate.

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By Neil Vigdor

• Aug. 6, 2024

A couple of weeks ago, few Democrats could have identified Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

But in a matter of weeks, Mr. Walz has garnered an enthusiastic following in his party, particularly among the liberals who cheer on his progressive policies and relish his plain-spoken attacks on former President Donald J. Trump.

That support helped him become Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. Here’s a closer look at Mr. Walz.

How old is he and where is he from?

Mr. Walz is 60 years old. He grew up in rural Nebraska and received a social science degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska. Mr. Walz also served 24 years in the Army National Guard and was a command sergeant major.

Mr. Walz met his wife, Gwen, while the two were teachers. They have two children.

Where did he get his start in politics?

Mr. Walz had been teaching high school social studies when he decided to run for office. In 2006 he knocked off a Republican incumbent, a rare feat, in Minnesota’s First District, a rural area that leans Republican.

Mr. Walz spent six terms in the U.S. House before he was elected governor in 2018. He won by more than 11 percentage points, propelled by voters in the cities and the Minneapolis suburbs. He ran again and won in 2022.

What are his top issues?

The political landscape has become more favorable for Mr. Walz during his second term as governor. Democrats flipped the State Senate, giving them control of both chambers of the State Legislature.

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