Daniela Silva came to the United States of America, four years ago, in 1997. She was born and raised in Chile. Moving to the states was on e of the hardest things for her to do. When I talked to her about her experiences she said, " It was scary for me, because I didn�t know anybody here, and I didn�t know how to speak english." "The hardest thing for me to do was go to school and try to understand the language."

Daniela�s father had been going back and forth from Chile to America, so that eventually he could move the whole family to America to find a better life. Her father came here found a job that could support the entire family, then had Daniela, her mother, and her two younger brothers, Felipe and Francisco, to America. Daniela arrived in John F. Kennedy airport in 1997; she didn�t know where to go because she could not read english. When she got to where she was to live she felt a little more at ease. The first day at school was the hardest day for Daniela, because she didn�t know anybody and the language was strange to her. She didn�t know one word of english. It just so happened that Daniela had a friend who had also just recently moved from Chile to America and happened to move to the same town as her. She had one friend and that was it. That was good enough for Daniela, at least she had someone to talk to. Maria, Daniela�s friend knew the english language and helped Daniela get through the first day of school. Daniela started in a TESL program that taught her the language. The program that she was in was a four-year program, but Daniela learned the language fast and she didn�t need to go for the last year. School was getting easier for Daniela, and she was able to get around school without asking for help anymore, and if she needed to ask somebody a question she could ask it without a problem, because she knew the language.

Daniela was asked about some of her experiences at school and she said, "I remember sitting in my science class, and all I could think about was what is this guy saying!" " I couldn�t understand!" "It is like you moving to China and sitting in one of their classrooms and trying to understand what they are saying!" "It was impossible, I was so lost, I just wanted to go home where I could just be with my family, and I could talk to them."

Soon the days Weber were coming to and end, and it was time for Daniela to start High School. Daniela said that she was excited to go to Schreiber because she knew the language well. She had made so many friends by the time she had graduated Weber, she said that it was no problem. She remembers the first day, She told me, " When I walked into the building the first day, all my friends hadn�t gotten there yet, so I was by myself. All of a sudden I felt like I was back at Weber for the first day." "There were so many people there, I didn�t know what to do!" People there were so much older than I was, I couldn�t find another student my age" "Soon enough I met up with my friends, and the rest of the day went smoothly."

Now Daniela is a senior at Schreiber High School, and she says that she likes school and this country very much. When I asked Daniela what she likes to do for fun she said, she likes to hang out with her friends, and go out to the movies. She likes to go to clubs where she can dance. I asked Daniela what kind of music she listens to, she said, "I like anything that you can dance to." What Clubs do you go to? I asked, "I go to Seaport a lot when it used to be there, I like to go out to Greek Clubs, and I also love to go out to Spanish clubs." Daniela also has a job; she works for Cow Bay contracting. She has been working there for two years and she likes her job a lot. When I asked Daniela what she wanted to do after high school she said, that she want�s to go to a good college and one day, she hopes to become an architect.