Becoming American

After watching "Becoming American", I began to really think about my own family’s immigration history. Learning that my great-grandparents were among more than thirty-six million immigrants that migrated to America between 1820 and 1924 was interesting and almost hard to comprehend. Such a huge number of anything is difficult to imagine, let alone people all leaving their homes and lives in one country in search of new opportunities. The uncertainty yet determination these immigrants were comprised of is remarkable.

Watching actress Meryl Streep learn that her ancestors had split as a family during this immigration period was unreal. I tried to imagine being separated from my siblings and one of my parents and it just seems impossible. Knowing that this was a common occurrence during the immigration time period is both upsetting yet remarkable.

Kristi Yamaguchi’s story was also very interesting. Her family wanted to assimilate so badly that they essentially lost sight of their native land/culture, and even contact with relatives that remained in Japan. They talked about finding her father’s cousin who they had never known even existed. Hearing a story like this really surprised me, because although I do not know all of my relatives personally or remember much information off the top of my head, my parents/grandparents have kept in touch with all family members in some form or another. To discover living relatives that you had never known existed must be an incredible situation.

Overall, seeing these celebrities discover their ancestral roots and learning new information about their family history has really made me eager to research my own heritage. I plan to investigate my own family history and learn more about when/why they immigrated to America.