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I was born in Tehran, Iran on December 17, 1967. In 1977, when I was 10 years old my family decided to immigrate to the United States. My parents decided to move to the States in search of better opportunities for life and a better education for my brother and me. Our journey to Los Angeles was fairly simple. My mom, dad, younger brother and I boarded a plane and landed in LAX.
Although we did not have any family and only a few friends in Los Angeles, we were very excited about the move. My parents enrolled me in the 5th grade and I began school with the hopes of making friends and having a more exciting childhood with greater opportunities and toys. My first impression of America is fairly vivid.
The most important thing that still stands out in my mind was that everyone, all the strangers in the street said “hello” to each other. When I looked up and made eye contact with a total stranger, he or she would smile and say “hi.” As a family we thought what an incredibly polite society.
My other impression of America was that everything appeared to be extremely larger and more exaggerated. The buildings were taller, the streets were wider and the freeways were amazingly long. The trees even seemed greener and the streets were cleaner, and the food was tastier. Overall my first impression of America and Americans was very positive and encouraging. It made living in a new country with a new language much easier.
I applied for my citizenship based on the encouragement and the persistence of my wife. She was adamant about my naturalization and was so proud of being an American, which made me excited to become an American…
Currently life in America is great. I work as a real-estate broker in a brokerage firm that was started by my college classmates... A decision that was made over 27 years ago has had a life altering affects in my life today. I didn’t understand why we had to move from our home and country, but now as they say hindsight in 20-20. I see that fate had a large roll in my life and that everything occurs for a reason.