COMING TO AMERICA (part 2)

Picture by Frank Bryan

 COMING TO AMERICA (part 2)

Coming to America cannot be a blog running in an orderly fashion. My intent is not to write a memoir -- chapter by chapter. I may do it at a later stage of my life.

In 1993, there were no precedents to follow; there were no books for dummies. Meeting a Bulgarian at school in Washington, D.C.? Even if this were to happen, I do not remember help coming in bulk. 

In this bubble of the unknown there was a flash light - THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

All of us three, were speaking the language. This allowed me to write a resume,  although I did not know that certain things were not such big accomplishments in USA. Having been in France for an internship did not translate into a gigantic level of IQ. It probably distracted the admission officers and made them think about a trip to Paris, wine, nice food, but academic success? Translating what corresponds to 'research assistant' into 'scientist' wasn't correct either. Having a Bachelor's degree from a communist university does not equate to business acumen in 1993, [but it did not hurt, I thought]. 

The hard days of babysitting, crying  from exhaustion and worrying what tomorrow will bring -- non of this did speak about my ability to be a good student, ready to be successful in a business graduate program. The good score on GMAT was a surprise. My math teacher from the English Language School in Bulgaria (God bless his big heart) would have been proud of it. Almost perfect. The English was not bad either. Having the resume typed by my ex-husband at his university, he and and I circled all universities in the Washington, D.C. area. Maybe, a few universities were skipped....They looked like castles; the air did not smell like they need a "Bulgarian immigrant." There was no such thing as a "Bulgarian immigrant."

The one who went to school a few days after "COMING TO AMERICA" was my daughter. Someone said to her at the place we stayed, "Are you playing hooky from school?" That was a signal for both parents to realize her school SHOULD be on the list right away. And IT WAS. With her weird clothes, funky accent, not popular style hair, not popular anything, she never missed a day of school. She was clean, combed, did her homework every day, BUT that was not enough. She never saw a birthday party; she was never invited to one. There was no time for a walk on the Mall....

I have to say again what is already in my published book "Seize the Seizures" : SHE was ready. The kids were not. The parents were not ready either.


To be continued....