Cuba Personal Narrative

The year was 1961, tension was stirring and relations between the United States and Cuba were boiling faster than the warm waters of the Caribbean. With Cuba serving as a pawn in a clever game of chess, the U.S.S.R. threatened the most powerful country in the northern hemisphere with nuclear missiles from an island just 90 miles away. These were some of the events transpiring when my parents were born in 1963. Thereon, a once vibrant and prosperous island would face oppression and diminish among the hands of the Cuban Communist Party. My parents witnessed the ruination of their homeland from their childhood years well into their early thirties. My father was able to escape and reach the freedom he long cherished for in February of 1994. Many Cubans were already trying to reach U.S. shores on rafts and small boats during the summer of 1994—my mother and I, then only a 3-year-old girl, among them. We arrived six months after my father’s arrival and relished at the astounding change that surrounded us everywhere. For me today, no words or actions can graciously commend the tough decision my mother made in bringing me to America. …show more content…
My parents never had an opportunity to attend college and become professionals in their field of choice, and faced many struggles in their personal and career lives as a consequence. They made a commitment early in my life to do everything within their power to instill in me a love of learning and an understanding of the importance of hard work and dedication. As a result of their love and sacrifice over the years, I have been able to dedicate the time and energy necessary to my academic accomplishment even though money has always been