The Arab experience in adapting to American society - Essay Example

The Arab experience in adapting to American society I was born in in 1993 9th of Jan to a soldier and a housewife in AlAin which is one of the biggest cities in the UAE, I had an interesting and happy childhood as I was well cared for and my parents were able to provide sufficiently well for mine and my siblings needs. As a child, I was often cared for by my elder sister, my mother and ayahs who had been employed with the duty of looking after me especially when my parents were not around. We had a big house with many rooms and I loved exploring, my father says as soon as I begun to walk, I begun running and falling around like I was trying to be all places at the same time. When I was of schooling age, I was taken to a primary school called Maseb BinOmeer, I had a lot of god times there and my first years of school were filled with adventuring and learning, I made many friends there. Every morning, I would be picked by the school bus and since our home was farthest from the school, I would often have to be the first to wake up so the bus could pick me then go around picking my schoolmates. Sometimes my father would drive me to school him, always in t evening, my father’s driver came for me and took me back home. However after I completed school, my father changed me to another school which is a secondary school that was nearer my home, this was great because I could walk home and spent a lot of my free time with my father who loved driving around and he actually taught me how to drive. My father is one of the people who I admire greatly, he is a big man who can scare you if you do not know him well, he is a soldier. Most times when I was a child, I used to see him wearing his military uniform and I thought it was very smart and beautiful. Whoever I walked with him to the barracks, I would see other soldiers run to where he was and salute him. He would nod and other times salute back. I wanted very much to be like him with power and a lot of respect so when I finished school I told him I wanted to be in the army like him. Since he is very powerful there because he is a general, it was easy for me to enroll, I spent a whole year in military training and this was very much fun although the physical training was very difficult. Sometimes we had run many kilometers in the hot sun and practice matching for a long time, however since I wanted to be like my father, I persevered and I was able to become successful. However I decided even if I wanted to become a general like my father, I should travel and acquire more knowledge which I could use in life later as well as their skills not limited to military ones. Because of this, I moved to the United States after I got a scholarship and in January 2012 I came here to America and registered in Fort Collins where I studied English so I could improve my communication and reading skills as well as be able to study other subjects in America. This was however very difficult for me since Arabic was my first language which I had spoken all my life and it was very different from English, and writing and learning the alphabet and letters of English was hard and it took me almost on and a half years to finish the course and even if my English is still not very good I practice every day and I talk to a lot of my Americans friends so I can learn it from them. This is because the best method to learn a language is not by going to school but by using it through speaking to people who understand it well. I discovered that in America most people are christens but very many also have other religions and some do not have religion at all. In my home country, this is very different because almost everybody I know is a Muslim, I was taught since I was a child to love god and respect other people and their faith even it is different from mine. This is easy in America because people do not treat me differently because I am a Muslim, in fact everyday even here I go to a mosque every day for prayer, this is enjoyable because apart from prayers I can meet other Muslims and we can talk and share our experiences, sometimes I even meet some people from my home country living who are living here and that makes me very happy. I was very happy when I was accepted in the UNC to finish my studies there, I had been hoping very much that would be admitted there because I had heard a lot of good things about the university, I have never met anyone who has been to the school but in the internet people say it is a good place. I hope it will be good for me so I can finish my studies in America before I go back to my country so I can continue with my dream of becoming a great general like my father. I also am glad to be in the university because that means I will be studying with other students who are good in speaking English as their mother tongue so I will be able to learn how to speak it very well from them. Back home, my main hobbies were playing football and taking trips and travelling, I used to spend a lot of time driving my parents car and even went outside our town to explore, sometimes I could use a bike. In since primary school I have played soccer with my friends and I spend a lot of time in the field, I play the position of a defender. In America not very many people play soccer but I made a few friends in Fort Collins and we played with them during our free time. I hope to also take part in co-curricular activities in the university such as playing football and swimming. Back home, we watch American football on TV and I think it is very good, I hope I can get a chance to play, because of my army training I am sure I can be able to learn the game quickly. To me the chance to study in a great American university is very important because I have always wanted to study here, when I was young we would read textbooks showing big cities and roads in America and I would say that I wanted to go and visit one day and maybe study. Because of that, coming here to me was like a golden chance and I am sure I will not be disappointed and I will go back home having learnt a lot of new things and with a degree. One of my main goals apart from academics and games is to learn how to interact with different people and to understand them and how they speak and live so I do not offend them. By studying in UNC I hope I will get many chances to learn about other cultures and religions so I can benefit and also have more knowledge about such things, that way when I return home I will have become more educated both academically in culture and a social way. Read More