Sociology 100

J.Greer Sociology 100 Prof Paiy

A twenty-six year old dedicated wife and mother of two. For short, some people call me Joe, but my name is .............. There are approximately 7.5 billion people on earth and 8.5million reside in New York City. I am one of them. I migrated here from the sunny island of Jamaica, to what Jamaican’s refer to as the “concrete jungle.” Migration played an integral role in who I am today. It changed my whole perspective on life. I migrated because it provided an opportunity for me to provide for my child. Board my Autobiographical Airline and come with me to Jamaica so that I can take you on a journey to becoming a U.S citizen.

I was raised in a single parent home with two other siblings. My mother was a dressmaker that designed, made and sold her items in the market or if business was slow she would walk on the streets or go door to door to sell them. She told me she never wanted that life for me. “Get a good education and everything will work out,” she would say. She ensured that I went to one of the top rated high school in the surrounding area. My mother pushed me to work hard because she saw this as the only way that I could escape what seemed to be the family curse since my grandmother was also a single parent who was a seller, the only difference was that she sold farm goods. At the age of ten our landlord moved into the house next to ours from England. He and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Haughton became close to our family, to me they were like my grandparents. One day while overthinking how to put a puzzle together Mr. Haughton said to me, “work smarter, not harder. Look at things from a broad perspective. If you start from the outside it is easier to put it together.” He said that to me referring to the puzzle but I took it with me and that has been how I see life. If I work smarter, surely, I will succeed.

With the wise words from Mr. Haughton in mind I finished high school and was ready for a job. The area I lived in was under developed. Hence there were a few rare office positions and those were occupied. My choices were to farm and sell, sew and sell them or to go outside of my rural community. I did not want to let anyone down and after much research found a youth program that would help with my training and job placement. I was a substitute kindergarten teacher for a privately-owned school. After about a year I lost my job as parents