How Being an Immigrant Changed My Life Forever
Immigration is a hot topic nowadays. It has become one of those things you either hate it or love it. However, studies and statistics show that regulated immigration has a positive impact on the recipient countries.
But we are not going to talk about politics, at least for now. When I decided to write this piece, I intended to show you how something that can be one of the hardest events a human can go through can dramatically become a positive and life-changing experience.
Before jumping into the good stuff, I need to give you some details about my background so the whole story can make sense. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela; the place where I lived the first 17 years of my life. As you may know from my previous post, I played baseball since I was 4 and it was such an essential part of me that I used to have a blanket with the logos of all the Major League Baseball teams.
That dream of playing baseball at the highest level took me to leave home at 17 years old, take a plane to the United States of America, and start my college career with a pretty basic English level. My English was so poor, one night I went out with two Venezuelan friends and their American buddy and he was telling a joke, they all started laughing and sure thing I was laughing too. Then, since they knew most of the time I didn’t understand a word in English, surprised, they asked me: did you understand what he was saying? I answered their question shaking my head. Hell no!
Here I was writing some articles at The Journal during my senior year at school.
Long story short, four years later I graduated from college with a 3.5 G.P.A, two years of work experience at the school newspaper and several awards for the articles I wrote at The Journal.
If you are thinking that I went back to my country after that, the answer is no. I actually worked for one more year in the U.S., and after my work permit expired, I hopped the pond and landed in Madrid, Spain, where I have been for the last 2.5 years. So basically I can say, I have been an immigrant in three different countries, you will learn about the third one at the end of the post.
Enough storytelling, It’s now time to share some knowledge with you. Here are the 5 things I learned from being an immigrant.
Loneliness is necessary
The first memory I have from starting my new life at school in a new country was being completely alone. When my family dropped me at the dorms, it was early January, and it was totally empty. Several people feel alone in their home country too, however, not being able to communicate with anyone, turning on the TV and watching stuff that is not cultural related to you, and eating food you haven’t eaten in your life is a whole different ball game.
Commencement Day in 2015, the day I officially graduated from college.
Note that at 17, I have never spent a single day without anyone by my side. After a couple of weeks, I managed to make some new friends, and I used to spend time with them. I started to adapt. However, there were periods in which back at my dorm room, I felt lonely. It happened to me during the first two semesters. It was such a shocking experience, I can still close my eyes and got back to those days and feel the same pain and frustration.
Now, looking back at those harsh lessons, I realize they helped me shape my character. Those experiences allowed me to grow and most importantly become an adaptable person, who no matter what the challenge is, always find a way to continue in the path to his goals.
In a prior post, I mentioned that being able to adapt was key to success in life, and especially in the startup world. I am sure those months helped me develop that skill, and that’s why I love the new challenges that arise daily in my job.
The world is bigger, way bigger than you think.
Sure, the world is a huge thing. 7 billion people and other millions of beings call this planet home. But when you live for an extended period without getting out of your city or country, your perception of the world starts shrinking.
The 4 years I spent in the U.S. allowed me to learn a lot about American culture, its politic system, its history, and much more. I got so used to it that when I went back to Venezuela a couple of times to visit my family, I felt weird in my own country. Not to mention, when I came to Europe, a lot of stuff didn’t make sense to me.
Now, 7 years after leaving home, I have a blended heart with three flags, and with what I say is a broad perception of the world. I tried to take the best out of each society to make the best version of myself.
This transformational experience can be confusing at first, but it’s an advantage in the business world and at the workplace. The mixture of cultures has allowed me to feel comfortable dealing with people from all walks of life and to develop valuable relationships with people from different continents.
Global is the new normal.
I consider myself a digital native. Since I was 10 years old, I have had a cellphone in my hands. I have been on Facebook since I was 14 and I spend almost 18 hours a day in front of a screen. However, when you come from a country not so open to the globalization taking place elsewhere, you don’t realize how important this movement is.
Talking to a colleague about our experience entering the U.S. market from Spain at Google for Startups Campus.
Living in two of the most developed countries on the planet, and especially being able to work and be part of the startup world, has helped me realize how connected we are.
It’s so easy, although it takes effort and courage, to open a company in countries like the U.S. from abroad I almost couldn’t believe it when we did it. This fascination I developed for connecting the world by enhancing business between nations has taken me to an adventure I never thought of. I am devoted to helping companies achieve the dreamed global status.
Never stop dreaming
This inspirational line is necessary. When you go out of your country, most of the time, your last name, experience, and network stays in your home country. You have to start from scratch, and it’s not easy at all.
I have learned that after working hard, overcoming challenges, and competing against everyone else, even if you achieve your goal, I need to go back to bed and start chasing my next objective the next day. When you are an immigrant, you have to be not only the best but the very very best to stand out of the crowd. Making a name in your own country is not easy, but becoming a leader in foreign lands is even harder.
This experience has shaped me into a fierce dreamer and a tireless competitor. I am sure, if I stayed at home, I would have had goals in life but being an immigrant has made me dream big.
After some time, you become an immigrant in your own country.
I heard this from people from several countries when I started my journey at East Central University in Oklahoma and to be honest the first 2 years I felt more Venezuelan each and every day until something began to change in me.
When I went back home, the way of life, the way people think, the way of doing things; everything started to seem weird and different to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country, and I firmly believe it has great potential and a lot of good things to offer to the humankind, but after my second year in college, I felt like an immigrant in my own country.
I have to admit, I was relieving when I took a class in human communication, and the professor introduced us to the term Reverse Culture Shock, which is the is the emotional and psychological distress suffered by some people when they return home after many years overseas. I wasn’t crazy! It happens.
Nonetheless, this is positive. Imagine thousands of people coming back to their country of origin and putting into practice good experiences they learned abroad, it sure can change a whole nation and turn it into a better place.
If you can and want, give yourself the chance to live abroad. Challenge yourself, open your mind, I guarantee you will become a better human being and professional.