How Diversity Visa Changed my Life

Heben Hailu


How Diversity Visa Changed my Life
There was a war between Ethiopia and Eritrea before I was born. They fought for seventeen years. At that time the government was socialist, so a social party forced people to join the army. It was the worst period of history I heard because a lot of people died and were hanged on the street. After that period, the war was over and these two countries separated in each other. Their separation made everything different. For instance, people got peace and freedom, education, and an opportunity to travel outside of the country, such as U.S.A. This is called diversity visa (DV). The diversity visa changed my life in profound ways, and helped my dreams come true.
After the government changed, everyone could get the diversity visa. It was a big opportunity for Ethiopian people. Also the diversity visa helped people to live and work legally in America. The visa comes in a three page form, so people had to fill out the form and send to America with two passport size photos. The American Embassy selects the form randomly like a lottery. And then they send it to Ethiopia. Every year my father and my siblings sent applicator. They also filled out the form for me and asked me to sign it. One day, I was doing my homework and somebody knocked the door. When I opened the door, I saw my father’s face delightfully. After he entered in, he hugged me and said,” Congratulations!” I could not even say a word. Finally, my father told me he got diversity visa for my siblings and me. The reason my father filled out the form just for the test because he did not trust that the government would give an opportunity for people to travel outside of the country. That is why he did not fill my mother’s name. However, he never felt any regrets because he had a big dream to send us to America, for he believed we can get better life and education in the rest of our lives.
Even though my diversity visa made me excited, I felt sad about leaving my mother, my friends, and my country. That is why I thought I wasn’t going to see my mother for a long time. Most of people think if their family move to other country, they feel they are not going to see each other again. In addition, people think about leaving their country could change their life. My mother thinks like them too. I am the youngest child in my family, so my mother thought I can miss her and my friends a lot. Also my father gave me a warning about being sad. Finally, I accepted everything was going to be good; especially my dream of living in America gave me a big hope about my future as long as I work and study hard. Beside that, I felt sorrow to say goodbye to my mother. When I saw her, my tears came on my cheeks. She was crying every time until I left her. The situation was complicated to decide to leaving or staying with her. Finally, my father explained to me leaving my mother is not the end of the world; I can see her any time I want.
I thought I live in America for good, for everything seemed confuse in the beginning. After a month, I started school. I was fascinated to learn the English language, but I had a hard time to understand it easily. Gradually, I could communicate with people and make new friends. Also I was participating in extracurricular programs. That helped me to improve my language skills and my grades for all classes. In addition, I participated in different kinds of clubs, which helped me to get a job. Until I graduated from high school, my father was supporting me even though I worked at school. After I graduated, I got a job. My job helped me to live better life and made me to think as a grown up what I have to do in the future. Moreover, I would realize everything is going to be improved day after day even though I live in America in the rest of my life.
In general my diversity visa changed my life. It helped me take care of myself, my family, and my mother by sending some money to Ethiopia. I thank my father a lot because he sacrificed many things for all of us. Now things are getting improved as I expected before. My diversity visa helped me to live and work legally in America and make my future brighten.