As tears rolled down my face I didn’t realize how moving would change my life forever. When I was nine years old, my parents told my younger brother, Harrison, and I that my Dad got a promotion at work, which meant we had to move countries. Moving from New Zealand to America is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me; even though I didn’t realize it at the time. Moving countries is something that changes your life forever. When we moved we left family and friends behind; but, thankfully we have new friends and family. Moving changed my life forever.

When Harrison and I got home from school one afternoon our Dad was home. He usually didn’t get home until six because of work. It seemed like something odd was going on because our mum looked upset. He asked us to sit down and told us the news. We were moving. I bursted into tears because all I could think about was leaving my friends. I had grown up with them and they were pretty much my family. But, moving was a good thing and a great opportunity for my parents. It wasn’t easy for me to accept that we were moving. I was in denial for months. It took us seven months to actually move. My parents had to go to the U.S. without us and look for a house and a good area for school. Once we did end up moving, September, 2010, it was the hardest day of my life. Saying goodbye to all my friends and family, not knowing when I would see them next. Once we got to the U.S. , I noticed right away that the lifestyle was different. Especially school. All the kids at school had an entirely different outlook on life. Most of the popular kids were extremely rude and unfriendly; in New Zealand its the complete opposite everyone is very polite and respectful. I remember on my first day of school during announcements I was sitting and everyone stood up to do the pledge of allegiance. Well, I didn’t know what that was so I just stayed down. My teacher called my parents and told them that I was being disrespectful to the country and I needed to learn the pledge immediately. My parents found it quite amusing. In elementary school I didn’t have a set group of friends, it wasn’t until middle school that I found a good friend group. Moving impacted my life so much and I would never change anything.

After the move I noticed that a lot had changed. My life had changed completely, one minute I thought I understood life but the next minute it had a completely different meaning. The way people live their lives in New Zealand versus America are different. I have matured from this experience over the past seven years because I have learnt that family and friends are everything. Without family and friends what is there to make one happy?  They will always be there for you. I have learnt that going through life changing events is not always a bad thing. It teaches you lessons in life that will help you in the future. Moving helped me open up to new and different things.

Moving countries is not an easy event to go through as a child. As a kid all you think about in life is friends and family. You aren’t worried about your future or any of that. As a kid I definitely didn’t think about that. Moving wasn’t something I wanted to do but it was necessary. I wouldn’t change it for anything. All the tears shed were not worth it in the end. Even though leaving my friends and family was upsetting at the time, all the new friends I have made in the States was worth the move.