Sophomore Abdul Aziz came to America from Bangladesh on Feb. 10, 2019. “Life here has been pretty good, and I’m enjoying it,” said Aziz. He came over to America to be with his uncle and cousins who grew up here. His family had the chance to move to Pennsylvania, but decided Virginia was a better fit. “I don’t know what other states, but I will one day travel all over America.”
“Life was pretty good in my country too, but it was a little bit hard because, you know, we don’t have lots of money,” said Aziz. “We didn’t have the level that we live at right now; we didn’t have the lifestyle like that.”
Aziz said he has adjusted to American customs quickly. His parents have not had the same experience. “Our culture is different, like culture is always different. It’s hard like my mom and my dad. They are grown up with other cultures, me I just, you know, not too much. I’m still young, and I can understand how things go. I can practice other cultures, like American. So yeah, that was easy for me, my family not yet. They are still struggling to get to it. One day we’ll be okay,” said Aziz.
Aziz’s school experience has been enjoyable, except for waking up early. “Our school [in Bangladesh] is 10 o’clock in the morning. So we woke up, nine in the morning, go to school and that’s it. But here like five, six. It’s been hard to change. First when I started school here, everyday, first block, second block, I sleep in whole class. And now it’s doing pretty good,” said Aziz.
Although he has had to adjust, Aziz appreciates how friendly FHS has been. “First of all, back in my country, my school was not too far away from my house. It was about 10 minutes to walk. So it’s not far enough. And we don’t have any transportation like here, bus or other stuff. Second of all, here the school systems, I really really like it. It’s so nice that all students, they really care about each other, are friendly actually. Like in our country, we see that Americans all stay home, stay busy with the technology, I guess. But no, they are really friendly.”
COVID-19 has prevented many people from pursuing life goals, but it has allowed Aziz to focus on perfecting his English. “I really want to talk more and more. When I am talking with others, I think I am improving my English.”
Aziz loves to visit Luray Caverns and Skyline Drive. His family likes to explore the area of Virginia and experience new things. “Basically, my whole family loves to be busy, travel. In my country, all people, kind of like us, they really don’t like to stay inside. I know Americans have the issue that winter time you cannot go outside. But we have been a lot of places.”
Aziz and his family came to America to have a better life and to leave a “bad situation.” Abdul explained that when given the opportunity to have a better life, you take it. “It’s kind of like when someone tells you, are you going to take a normal egg or golden egg?” Aziz’s uncle gave his family that choice, they took the golden egg. “My uncle really tried for us. His whole life he tried to bring us here to live a good life.”