Find a study that has already been done and reflect on its findings. How does this study connect to your writing project? What does this study not show?

A major study, results of which were published on New York Times’ article The Immigrant Advantage showed the statistics of immigration success, and found that if a person is born elsewhere and later acquire American citizenship, they will, on average, earn more than native-born, study further, marry at higher rates and divorce at lower rates, fall out of the work force less frequently and more easily dodge poverty as the article would state.

Some statistics from the study would show the claims made in the first paragraph: “In the 10 poorest states the median household of native-born earns 84 cents for every $1 earned by a household of naturalized citizens. In the poorest states, foreign-born are 24 percent less likely than native-born to report themselves as divorced or separated, but just 3 percent less likely in the richest states. In the poorest states, foreign-born are 36 percent less likely than native-born to live in poverty; the disparity collapses to about half that in wealthier states like New Jersey and Connecticut.”

The statistics also show an interesting trend of where the settled and naturalized immigrants tend to succeed the best – and that is in the Midwest regions, rather than the traditional coastal cities like New York, which is well known for its immigrant history and communities. There, the well-established American families tend to keep up well with naturalized immigrants. Perhaps coastal cities are better known for the “un-naturalized immigrants” or those who have not settled yet completely and stick to their own communities. Whereas once they do establish themselves better, have their citizenship and no longer really depend on the support of immigrant communities, they would tend to go to areas where there is potentially more demand, more money and less competition such as in the Midwest region. Surely, they could still choose to have ties to their older communities and culture, but they probably would not pass on good financial opportunities once they get their citizenship.

The study does not however show the difficult process of becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States, and it is where many immigrants can get stagnated, and stay at the permanent resident stage for many years. Anything below permanent residence is even harder to compare, as visa statuses have many restrictions and in the past decade had gotten more restricting laws and limitations of how people can come here, whether that is through work or higher education studies. The study simply acknowledges the obvious statements such as that most naturalized citizens — “…nearly half of America’s roughly 40 million immigrants — arrived by choice, found employer sponsors, navigated visas and green cards and situations, where immigrants who never reach citizenship, and generally have harder lives than American citizens, native- or foreign-born, are not considered.” as the article would state.

The United States currently rejects many potential immigrants that would otherwise contribute to the local society and overall economic benefit of the country well. Under the immigration laws created by the current president’s administration, people who want to come here legally as a hired employee of an American company have trouble going through the documentation process with the immigration agencies. Potential immigrants have an ever-increasingly difficult time to find a legal way to work and stay in the United States.

How would this connect to what my project is about? Well, although I do not specifically talk about immigration, I do talk about adaptation, and how experiences from different communities of different countries can influence a person such as myself, since this is an autoethnography.

Throughout he diverse educational journey I had, with its difficult stages and years of adjustment, Things would finally start to come together, the preparation and anticipation skills. I would learn how to keep myself together and learn what to prioritize at this stage in life: the family that is with me, my education, and my best hobbies. I would also learn to have appreciation for my past and how it all played its part. For what I wanted, things were paying off. My experiences had led me to become a stronger individual. I look at my future differently as I would have a few years ago and it certainly is better than what it was then. It all gave me an immense skill base of improved self-disciple, independent self-learning habits as well as confidence in my own academic abilities.

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