That Little Girl is Me
“Resiliency isn’t about immunity to pain. It’s about finding the strength to withstand strain.” -Adam Grant At the age of 13, along with her four siblings and father, a little girl filled with emotions, hopes and dreams packed her bags to travel 1,534 miles from the Dominican Republic to New York. That little girl always dreamed of traveling to the country her grandfather was from, a country filled with opportunities, "The American dream," many call it. She wanted to be with her mother, who had been apart from her family for the last two years. Her mother often talked about the United States, the many opportunities someone could have in that country, and how beautiful all the lights were, it was like a dream. She used to close her eyes and imagine herself on the sidewalks of New York just like in the movies. For that little girl moving to New York meant no more carrying buckets of water in her head. She no longer had to watch soap operas on a black and white TV at her neig...