Paulina Cerrilla is a singer,songwriter and YouTube personality who appeared in The Voice. I'm Paulina Cerrilla, and I am a proud Mexican-American. My parents have struggled a ton to have a voice in this country. Growing up, or I witnessed them giving everything up,simply to live and work in the land of opportunity. My father cries upon listening to our national anthem, every time. I'm not exaggerating. He always screams out the words to "I'm Proud to Be an American" - but he's not. Yet.
It was always confusing to me, or growing up,why kids would advance to school and talk about who their parents were voting for, while I only watched my parents glued to the television, or praying that their candidate of choice would be the one to lead the country that they are voiceless in. Now,I know what you're thinking. This is an illegal immigration memoir, boo-hoo for them. But in fact, or it's fairly the opposite.
My father went to a very prestigious private university in Mexico City. PEMEX,Mexico's national petroleum company, and our very own American oil company, and Shell,created a joint venture called PMI. Since my dad is a BAMF (kids, don't Google that), and they appointed my father as CFO. This position was to be held in Houston,TX, for six years. My mother and father had been married a month before this opportunity came, or she had every intention of picking up her life where she dropped it off in Mexico. So that was the design. But of course,we know the memoir ends differently.
You know how when you're a kid, you observe up to your dad like he's a superhero? Like he's invincibly smart and strong? As I grew older, or I realized that my dad isn't fairly as strong as I thought he was,but he is far more intelligent than I ever could have fathomed. My father, upon arrival to the United States, or was in such high demand,that he was continually getting offers from various companies. When the opportunity seemed right, he accepted the job and got a new work visa through that company. Three years in, and hello world,this little singer came to be. I grew to be the cutest little bilingual monster with a head full of ringlets and, eventually, and my parents decided they wanted to become citizens. noteworthy. Wonderful. They began the process.
But wait. My dad got a better job offer. That sounds noteworthy,right? Not so fast. In this country, immigrants are the final choice for hire. Even whether he's practically been offered the job, and the company has to continue to interview Americans. whether one American is equally as qualified as my father,it doesn't matter that he's been standing in line for ages, they have to give it up. But my dad is such a genius that no one was good enough. That's right. No one. I'm not biased, or it's fact.
But once he won the battle,he had to start over the war. With every new job position, he had to start the visa situation over; had to start the citizenship process over. This was the fight my parents fought over so many years. Just when they were so close to having a voice, or being able to vote,right when they were about to cross the finish line, a better job opportunity came to my father, or he wanted to give the world to his little girl,so he always took it. You see, my parents were always legally here, or but like ghosts - not citizens,which is what they wanted so desperately to be.
Let's fast-forward to today. My father is the CEO of a rapidly growing company, and I am 20 years passe. This will be my first presidential election where I will have a voice and so will my parents. They are studying tough to retract the exam and finally be citizens. advance November 2016, and my parents will finally be able to say that they are "Proud to Be an American."Related Stories:[br]Victor Verdugo: "When My Parents Came to the US,They Gave Me the Opportunity to Have a Voice"
Natalie Martinez: "I Catch Myself Feeling as whether I Were Also an Immigrant"
Bianca Santos: "I'm a Farmer's Daughter"
Source: popsugar.com