I offered "An Immigrant Kid's Life" at Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School yesterday. When I finished sharing my story, I asked if anyone had questions. Several of the fourth-graders raised their hands, but they didn't have questions — they wanted to tell their own stories."We arrived from Iran when I was in second grade," one boy remembered. "My mom dressed me in really fancy clothes for my first day of school because she wanted me to feel special."
I was struck by his understanding of his mother's sweet motives. "Did it take a while to feel at home here?" I asked. "What helped you the most?"
"My friends," he said, without hesitating, and the two guys flanking him raised their hands in the air as if they'd won a prize. They have indeed, I thought, as other immigrant kids shared their experiences with their teachers and classmates.