Poverty: A limit on living

I am not an immigrant. However, my parents and my older sister are. They were fortunate to come to America in order to pursue the American Dream every other immigrant was hungry for. They were in Boston, Massachusetts and I was born around that area. I don’t really remember much from being an infant, but my mother remembers it like it was yesterday. “We lived in a tiny apartment that barely fit under our budget” she recounts. America, filled on the rush of getting to the 21st century, was running high in emotions of living the fullest life possible and never looking back. Whether that was coming to America with $6 and a dream or arriving with old money and an established family, we all want to seek higher than was originally meant for us. The only question is who will get it?

We can not overlook the fact that the middle class is shrinking and the lower and upper class are increasing. And we can also say it is a lot easier to lose money than to gain money. Which is what makes my family one out of the few families to escape a poverty enriched environment and establish jobs that allowed them to move against the gradient to a more middle-class lifestyle. I don’t know how they did it to be honest because I feel with like a lot of opportunities in this world, it requires sacrifice, knowing the right person at the right time, and pure hard work.

My sister and I had to share everything. She got the new clothes from Goodwill or even garage sales, I got the hand-me-downs. What no kid is going to tell you is that they do not like hand-me-downs. Especially when your mom says, “your older sister has a similar sweatshirt, why are we going to buy another one?” That statement is something all younger siblings have heard for decades. Which is something I particularly like about the trends in this era. There are so many fads that a shirt you buy one day could be completely re-invented the next day. This era is what runs consumerism to its limits and allows us kids to continue to buy the newest things and usually donate our goods when they go out of fashion.

But of course, some things changed. Dad gets a job and the whole family moves. Mom finished the last part of her degree and lands a job. The two kids have grandma at home watching over them while they complete school. Hand in hand, the economy gets better and in turn, the family does so too. Now the questions change from, “ how much does that book cost?” into “ why don’t you get some more?”

But I still remembered living in parts poverty-stricken world as I grew up, and it still has an effect on me. I know that I must be careful with what I buy and buy only when is necessary. I also know that I have to give back whenever possible. And last but not least, I have to remind myself that possibly being what I define as “poor” again is in fact not the end of the world, but could lead me to new experiences I haven’t revisited since last time.

— Gabriela Nguena Jones