My Journey Anonymous

March 2, 2006. Three immigrants: 2 parents and a child arrived in Rancho Cordova with three suitcases and $100. Due to the poverty of their home country, Moldova, the mother, and the father were willing to take a gamble in a brand new country, with little to no knowledge of the language in the hopes of giving previously unavailable opportunities to their children.

That child was me: Nikita Chaychenko, whom my parents were willing to go to an entirely different country with the hope that I would be able to live a more accessible and prosperous life than they had. Shortly after arriving in the United States, my parents and I had to overcome many financial issues, with both of my parents having to work full time while also taking care of me, all while learning a new language/culture as well as having to use public transport to and from work, unable to finish college despite having the desire.

Throughout the first couple of years, we lived in extremely bad areas in downtown Sacramento, rampant with crime, even going as far as having criminals jump onto our patio and over our fence while escaping from the police, which my three-year-old self and my pregnant mother had witnessed firsthand. To this day, my father still works five...