Russia, St Petersburg, to be exact. There was public transportation, trams, and busses, but they walked to school. Their mom was a music teacher, so growing up, music was huge. When they were four, they started on violin, in the choir, and sight-reading; at six, they played the piano - government-funded lessons. They were involved in dance, extracurriculars, and lived in an apartment. Schools in Russia were competitive; they published the grades and had a looping elementary school with the same teachers in the first, second, and third grades. There was a strict education, meaning it was very rigid and a higher level, especially math, and taught earlier than in America. 

They came to America when they were eight and a half, shortly before turning nine in August. They had interviews before applying and went to the US Embassy in Moscow; there were families in front and behind them getting declined; they remember holding their little brother (six months) in an open duffle bag because it was easier than a stroller. They came to Cleveland because their grandpa lived there and had an apartment. They took planes here; they came over because the mom's parents moved here in 1979 when the grandpa got an engineering job. In the year 2000, their grandpa told them they should come and entered them into US visa lotteries - they won. There were better opportunities here; they were initially going to come for the benefit of their older brother, who was gifted, but passed away when he was fourteen. Also, Russia was also politically challenging. The dad told the mom if they went, they would have a new slate; the mom did not want to go at first. Once in Cleveland, in June, they were put into summer school and thought it was easy because they knew all the content. They picked up the language quickly once school started and had ESL once a week. It was confusing not understanding what was going on in school, especially during the pledge.

There is a large Russian population in Cleveland. Their piano teacher was Russian, they took Russian classes in college, they still have this part of them, but the majority of their identity is now American, heavily shaped by their teenage years.  This person is fluent in Russia and still keeps in touch with culture through Russian music, such as classical composers, and Russian grocery stores. They feel they struggled with stopping to teach their kids Russian because it is a piece of their culture they can pass on.

This person was made fun of, bullied, poor, and wore hand-me-downs. They said they were different and had difficulty making friends; they were an immigrant family. In Elementary and Middle School, there was a social connection; people made assumptions and thoughts. People assume that this person is blunt because they are Russian; this is incorrect. The first year this person began teaching, they got called to the principles office because another male history teacher accused them of teaching communism. The principal told this person that others do not like that this person works hard; people will make comments because they feel less than you.

Once, when renting an apartment, the person was asked where they were from; and responded  Cleveland but originally Russia, and the other person said they knew because of the accent, which was not even heavy at the time. They were bothered by this idea of perfect assimilation and that an accent means bad. Every person has different versions of the ways they speak. They said the American education system shows that all other methods are wrong; it is a eurocentric or white-centric way; if one does not conform, they are not set up for the same paths of success.

This person's advice is, "As a child of immigrants, you feel like you owe your parents something, reciprocate, but you don't, not meaning you don't care about them, more like they had a child, don't have kids to mold them into something you want for yourself. If you change your path and pursue what you want to do outside your parent's wishes, that is ok too. It is ok to seek therapy; the immigrant experience is traumatic. Not neglected or hurt wise, you have to grow up fast, speak English on behalf of your parents, adult tasks most kids don't do."

They went into more depth about how the goal is for a better life and how the parents give up a lot; you can acknowledge all of that and pursue what makes you happy. They said "at18 years old, you do not have to know, college should be trial and error, you are paying tons of money for a piece of paper, not fulfilling your parent's dreams, do what you want."