After arriving in America, where do our immigrants go? And what kind of education do they take as a first step?

Milin Huang
2/12/2015

After arriving in America, where do our immigrants go?  And what kind of education do they take as a first step?

According to a recently published report, newly arrived immigrants are nowadays more educated than they have ever been in the past.  These immigrants are more motivated, and whether it be for themselves or for their children, they are coming to America in order to make a better future. 

In some countries, such as China, current trends suggest that children should begin formal education at an increasingly earlier age.  That being the case, the system sets that age at around two years, and many critics of the idea claim that children are losing their childhood. For that reason, many Chinese parents may decide to leave the country for places like America in order to allow their children the opportunity to enjoy their lives as children and develop a better view of the world than they would back in their home country.

Immigration and similarly related topics have received widespread attention in America. After all, many tax dollars are being spent on programs to help immigrants and ensure that our borders are safe from illegal immigrants.  In regards to those who do arrive legally, proper education and networking play a critical role in helping our new immigrants learn to adapt and become productive members of society. Where do they end up? How do they make a living? Where are they getting educated?

Our journalists went to the Adult Learning Center of Osceola County Florida (ALCO) to investigate. ALCO provides English as a Second Language (ESOL) and General Educational Development (GED) classes among a large variety of classes for adult learners.  The students think that learning and improving their English is the first step to make a connection with society after immigrating to America. The ESOL classes provided by ALCO begin at level 1, and continue until the student has reached level 6, which then transition the student into academic classes.  With the academic classes, students can use their newly acquired English skills to learn real skills that they can use in school and job applications.

ALCO receives immigrants from all around the world, many of which have little English skills.  They explain by learning English, they will open doors to not only be able to communicate with others, but also find a job in America, and even transfer from English learning center to university level classes. However, as learning a language is a long process, they may need to both study and work at the same time.

Our journalists interviewed several newly arrived immigrants and questioned them on their origins, and what their plans are moving forward:

Michelle

Mishelle moved to America with her family from Venezuela.  Although originally she didn’t want to come, her mother convinced her that she could find a better future in America.  After arriving, she enrolled in classes at ALCO to improve her mastery of English, and at the same time, she found work as a Designer’s Assistant making costumes, decorations, and fashionable attires.  She also picked up a second job as a waitress in order to save up money for the future.  She found that American people are generally kind, and much more relaxed than people in her homeland, but she worries that she is often judged based on preconceived notions about her origins. Her next step aspires to get admitted into a university to study Digital Design. 

Kathy

Kathy came with her son from Taiwan to open a new chapter in her life, and has been residing in the United States for 6 months. She is acquiring academic skills at ALCO in order to complete a program at TECO in Medical Coding.

Juliana

Juliana comes from Colombia, and has been living in America for one year.  Back in her home country, she studied industrial engineering for two years, and before completing her degree, moved to America where she has been working to improve her English so she can continue to follow her dreams of becoming an industrial engineer. 

Aldo

Aldo moved to America from Venezuela just six months ago, and in that time he has made headway in his goals to getting a job as a Mechanical Engineer.  He is currently taking advanced English classes at ALCO, and is looking forward to the day he can take academic  classes in at a university level again.

Carolina

Carolina worked as a Lawyer in her home country of Venezuela before she decided to come to America.  At ALCO she has worked on English and academic classes, and is pursuing an associate degree as a Paralegal.

Dodie

Ms. Dodie is an instructor at ALCO where she teaches advanced ESOL and various other academic classes to adults, mostly recently immigrated.  She has worked in the industry for 20 years and has helped and encouraged countless students to take the next step in their lives.  Ms. Dodie works to animate people to improve their English, and take advantage of career centers at the school in order to help students build critical skills in interviewing, resume writing, group work, and negotiating.  The majority of the students are focused on mastering their English in order to land a job to get on their feet, but Dodie maintains that, “students don’t necessarily have to have perfect English, just good enough to take the test, and pass the certification.” Students who come with certifications and training in their home countries are encouraged to continue pursuing their careers by being directed to the appropriate channels where they can adapt their skills to their new environments in America. When students leave her class, she continues to support them by acting as a powerful connection to the rest of society.

Zon

Zon comes from Burma, where she studied medicine for five years out of a seven year program.  Her sister, who had previously gone to America, suddenly presented her with an opportunity to immigrate, and she made the jump.  Living paycheck to paycheck and working in the service  industry, she has bounced in and out of depression, but nevertheless, she continues to attend classes at Valencia where she hopes to complete the necessary prerequisites necessary to advance her dream. Indeed, she dreams of being remembered as a person who will have made medical breakthroughs particularly in the fields of biochemistry and psychiatry. No doubt, someone as busy as her needs to decompress regularly, and she enjoys releasing stress by reading books, writing in her diary, and playing keyboard.

Niurka is a counselor working at Valencia’s East Campus, Niurka, mentioned if you want to attend Valencia, you must either have a HS diploma or GED certification.  However for immigrants the situation may not be so clear cut.  For example, if you cannot get your HS or college transcripts, meaning, you don’t have a four year diploma, then you can try to get a course-by-course evaluation on sites like the World Education Service (wes.org), or Josef Silny & Associates (jsilny.com). Therefore, if you are a college student, but you haven’t finished, then you may have to take some general education classes, such as Humanities, and Language Arts, before you are allowed to transfer to larger universities.

Immigrants are an important part of the American society.  In fact, besides the native Americans, all citizens of the American continents are all either immigrants or descendent of immigrants. Even in the 21st century, America continues to attract many people to start a new life.  Receiving education will become a good step for them to begin living in America.


To see an in-depth interview with one of our featured immigrants, click here.