A Letter

To the future students of this class,

I know you are probably asking yourself why you have taken this class or what the meaning of this class is, and what it brings. For starters, I will be sharing what I experienced and how my journey was like.

Losing my parents in America at the age of three shaped my life in various ways, to this day ‘which I still am learning to understand. Because I was young, I don’t have many memories of them. Instead, my understanding of who they were comes from my older siblings, my relatives, photos, and the feelings I carry within. My grief has never been just about the moment they passed away; It’s been the grief of everything – the what ifs, the missed birthdays, and the life we never got to share. For a long time, those feelings were hard to explain.

This class allowed me the space to reflect on those emotions in a way I had never done before. In the beginning, I knew the class would entail reading different perspectives indeed. However, I was immersed in these perspectives each and every time. As we went on with the semester, I realized the class was really about people’s journeys and their losses. Many of the characters from the books I read experienced some sort of displacement and seperation from loved ones. As I read their stories, I started to see parts of my own life in them.

Writing was the most important part of my experience taking this class. When I wrote my experience posts, I was not just completing assignments, but I was also processing my own story. Writing allowed me to think about my parents, my family, and the emotions I had carried quietly for years. At times I felt sadness, other times I felt confused, and most times I felt melancholy. Putting these feelings into words allowed me to understand that grief is not something that disappears; it just changes over time. I have also come to understand the depths of my parents’ sacrifice. They left the only home they knew, leaving their families behind, escaping the dangers of war, and taking a risk because they believed in a safer future. Even though their lives were taken away unforgivably, they showed strength in their final moments.

One moment that stood out to me was when I wrote and reflected about an Albanian song, Duaje Adhteun Tend by Erza Muqoli. Listening to that song felt very personal to me. The message about loving your homeland and staying connected to your roots reminds me of the sacrifices my parents made before I was born. Even though they are no longer here, their dreams and sacrifices didn’t die with them but they rather continued through me. Writing about the song and my experience helped me realize that music, like literature, can hold one’s memories that are difficult for one to voice in an everyday conversation. This allowed me to reflect on my identity and how my family’s past is still part of my present life.

This class also helped me to understand that grief does not only bring sadness, but it can also bring strength. Reading various stories about immigration showed me how people face challenges and still find a way to rebuild their lives. This allowed me to view my experiences differently. Instead of seeing my loss as something just painful, I started to see it as something that shaped my resilience. It reminds me that even after we lose the most important people in our lives, we can still grow and move forward while carrying their memory with us.

I believe that more people should be open to taking an immigrant literature class, especially in our world today, because it teaches lessons that go beyond academics. It helps you develop empathy, and a deeper understanding of the world around them. It’s easy for people to make assumptions about immigrants or refugees without knowing their story. This class challenges those assumptions and judgement by showing the human side of immigration, the fears, sacrifices, and dreams that families carry with them.

Taking this class also means taking a step in understanding yourself better. Even if you do not come from an immigrant family, you can still learn about identity, belonging, and resilience that you carry. Literature gives the opportunity to step into someone else’s life for a moment and see the world through their eyes.

The lesson that I have learned about death is that it does not only represent an ending, but it can also be a reminder of love and memory. Even though my parents are no longer here, their lives still shape who I am today. Their sacrifices and dreams continue through me and the way I live my life. Death taught me to value time and to hold on to the stories that connect me to my family.

In the end, my journey through grief and writing has shown me that loss can bring many things. While death is something painful and is something that has brought deep loss into my life, it pushed me to find meaning. Through writing, I learned that even when someone is gone, their memory carries through those who loved them. So, I write this to you in hopes that you find your own meaning and understanding of immigration while surrounding yourself with stories that teach you to reflect on life, death, and the way we continue to carry the things or people we love with us even after they are gone.

Featured Image

Rizos Lakovos (1849-1926) “Lady Reclining on Couch”, ca 1885-1890. Oil on Canvas. Public Domain.