My Family Permanent Resident Status - 1471 Words

I am going to America; I kept retrospection in my mind. My Parents and elder sister have already traveled to the United States a couple of months back. I was living with my father s cousin for the mean time and my two younger sisters were staying with my mom s friend. The news is now out in our little town, on the outskirts of Lagos. Are you going to America? That was the question most people kept asking me. I do not know was usually my reply, trying to be coy about it. In Nigeria, going to the United States is perceived as winning the lottery, which is ironic because my father won the visa lottery that guaranteed my whole family permanent resident status in the United States. The town my family and I lived in Nigeria is called Ifo. It†¦show more content†¦The only downside is that everyone cannot afford to go to school. Even though there is free education for the public schools. Private schools are often better. My dad worked for the Electoral commission of Nigeria and m y mom was a math teacher in a high school so they were able to send me to a really good school. Unfortunately for one of my colleagues, he had to drop out of middle school because he could not afford the tuition and he had to hawk bread so that his parents can pay the rent. He was a very brilliant student but unfortunately could not get an education. Till this day, I am sad he did not complete his education. He would always talk about how he wanted to be a doctor and I think he had the potential to be one. Who knows if he could have been the one to find a cure for cancer? There are other unfortunate students like him who cannot complete school for various reasons. The education system is good but not everyone is given a chance to learn. We also were not allowed to speak our local languages in school and the teachers referred to them as vernaculars. I have been afraid of teachers my whole life because I was conditioned to fear them. Teachers in school for any mistake I made often bea t me flogged me and that fear has been instilled in me. The African culture is still there but it is gradually diminishing and most people are adopting the Western culture. Which takes me to the movie industry and music. Nigeria has the third largest movie