RAW FOOTAGE

In these additional interviews, Mohammed, Fatima, Michael, Luincys, and Anton talk candidly about their experiences.

MOHAMMED, 19
Came to the U.S. over 4 years ago

I started writing in my journal 6 months after I came to the United States [from Guinea, West Africa]. My professor in my English class asked us to write journals. So I started writing it. I could communicate in writing better than speaking. I couldn't speak any English and the little English I knew was just how to write it down. Sometimes I didn't know how to pronounce the words or how to speak, so I had to write to express my ideas, my feelings.

I became interested in taking pictures. When I'm looking through a lens of a camera I see differently than I am able to see with my own eyes. Once I take the picture and develop it, I might see things that I wouldn't think about. I would see things that I wouldn't see with my naked eye. Every time you look at the picture you may have a different idea. You may have a different perspective of it. I like taking pictures of different things. Usually I take pictures of people of different backgrounds, different ethnic groups, pictures of the city, pictures of animals. I usually take pictures of different angles, angles that not everybody sees. I like taking pictures of all types of people because if people from different countries, different backgrounds come together to share their ideas, that would make the world a better place. Nobody would stereotype against other groups. I like taking pictures of the city because I grew up in a village and seeing the architecture of the buildings here is interesting. Hoping that one day I will be building one of those buildings. Here's one of my journal entries:

My first time to get in an airplane, I was scared. I thought the plane was going to fall. When I was in the plane I was sitting on a seat that was next to the aisle. I sat there because I was afraid to sit next to the window. I didn't want to look down. I was shy and I couldn't eat anything because I was so afraid. My first day in New York City. I was depressed by the presence of all people of different parts of the world. I was shy because I couldn't speak English. It was strange for me. When people spoke to me I couldn't understand. When I went to places I saw people playing with their friends. I didn't have friends. I was lonely.

If you would like to write to Mohammed, you can e-mail him at mbah77@yahoo.com

FATIMA, 16
Came to the U.S. 4 years ago

I first moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma in the 6th grade from Tanzania, Africa [we are Indian, and practice Islam]. People would just come up to me and ask me, "Where you from?" I'm like, "I'm from Africa." They're like, "Oh, do you ride on elephants?" I'm like, "No, it's just like the United States. You got cities and everything over there. It's just like what you're living in here." At first I had a hard time. I had no clue. In Africa all you do is just sit in one class. You have like 120 kids in one class and one teacher. The teacher goes and comes to the class every 45 minutes. Over here, you have to change classes. I had no clue! I didn't even know what a schedule was when I first moved here. Then I made some friends who helped me out, which was great, and I thank them. It was hard when I first got here to make friends. I didn't know who I should talk to or whom I should call. But then slowly, slowly when I needed something, I had to ask my classmates, my neighbors, Can I borrow this? Can I borrow that? That's how you make friends, by talking, by going up to people and by them coming up to you.

I've changed a lot from when I lived in Africa to how I am in America. Before, I couldn't talk to my mom. I wouldn't talk to older people because I would think they won't understand what I'm saying. But now, over here in America, teenagers and adults are like the same thing – they talk. You know, there aren't separate adult talks and separate teenage talks. Over here, everything is together. So when I was in Africa, I wouldn't sit with an adult and just talk about school, but over here, adults want to know about you.

MICHAEL, 19
Came to the U.S. 3 years ago

The lessons we learned in China are much harder than here. The math I study here in high school I already learned in the 5th or 6th grade. Not only for me, a lot of Chinese kids feel that way too. Classes like math, like chemistry class, we feel like we really don't do anything because even though it's a simple question, simple math, the teacher has to run over it, over and over with the American kids. Most Chinese kids, we learn it from a really early age. In China, we had to go to school 6 days a week, which included Saturday.

As a Chinese, I don't think I will ever lose any part of my culture: the language I speak, the books I read, the food I eat. That means, if I am an American, if I forget my culture to be totally American, that will make me feel lost. I know a lot of immigrants come here, they don't want to touch anything besides American culture, they just want to forget their own culture, they just want to forget their own memory of their country. Which is sometimes not a bad idea if you don't have such happy memories. Even though I want to be an American I won't forget my own culture, my own Chinese traditional things. Chinese culture is part of my heart. I think it will stay there forever. I like them both, which is the American way and the Chinese way. They both make my life better.

If you would like to write to Michael, you can e-mail him at michaelWUB@aol.com.

LUINCYS, 17
Came to the U.S. 6 years ago

The Dominican Republic is a lot of fun. The atmosphere is different because the climate is always warm. There are nice people everywhere but back there, the neighbors become like your family. We were always working with the community, doing community service together. With my friends in the Dominican Republic, we would play baseball, ride bikes. I didn't play much with Barbies and house but I played more violent things like cops and robbers and hide and seek. I lived in a big, big house with a beautiful garden with a big backyard with different trees. I had a lot of animals like a dog, rabbits and birds. My favorite tree was a cherry tree – actually, I don't know if it is a cherry tree or not, because it looks like cherries but it is not. Ahh! I used to eat them in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, anytime! Those were my favorite fruits and I haven't tasted them since I came to America because I have not found them here. Once I got to America, the first struggle was the language. I think it was frustrating for me because I am very friendly. I talk so much and coming here, I wanted to meet new people and ask them things, ask them to show me around and to just talk like normal people but I couldn't because of the language. It limited me to talk to them and meet new friends and show them who I was. To learn English, the first 6 months I listened. I then started to write because the grammar in English is similar to the grammar in Spanish so I was able to pick up on that. But in 8th grade I started to speak.

ANTON, 17
Came to the U.S. 2 years ago

I would like to find a girlfriend in this country. I would not want a Russian girlfriend because she already knows a lot about who I am. I want something different because it's more interesting. Maybe bring them to my country one day. There's a lot I like about America, you can go out everywhere, you can sit everywhere you want. The first time I went to the store it was pretty funny. I walked to the register and said, "Can I take this candy bar?" And she [the cashier] said "Go and take it.' I walk to the candy and try to take it but I can't. I went to her one more time and I say to her in English, "Can I take this?" And she's like, "Go ahead." So I go to take it but I don't know what to do so I put it back and went home. I was afraid to pick up the candy bar because I think someone might arrest me for that because in Russia you can get arrested for that. America gave me changes that I can be more free. I can do anything I want. I can go in a store, I can go everywhere I want.