With the promise of the American dream and full of optimism, senior Karen Yang uprooted her life in China and moved to the United States at 15 in hopes of taking advantage of the educational opportunities in the US. But with her parents 6,000 miles away, living without them brought Yang immense isolation. Having trouble socially in a new school and with no one to turn to about her everyday problems, she tried to navigate an unfamiliar country but was constantly on edge.
Yang said the most frightening part of moving to America was the tense relationship between China and America, and its effects on her social life.
“I was really scared because the last time I was in the United States there were a lot of international conflicts,” Yang said. “Especially in the media, Chinese American relationships were very hot, and there was a lot of really scary news about how Chinese Americans were beat up.”
According to The California Department of Education, Santa Clara County had over 13,000 immigrant students enrolled in the 2022-23 academic year.
While not all student immigrants live alone, many do face a multitude of challenges as they adapt to a new country. Sophomore Julia Nunes, an immigrant from Brazil, said her perception of the United States from the media – as a lively, hospitable place – didn’t match her reality.
“I was expecting the school to be more welcoming and more understanding of the situation that I was in,” Nunes said. “I had to learn topics midway through the year that I never learned before because I moved in the middle of seventh grade. I didn’t really know what to do.”
Struggling with adjusting to a new education system as well, senior Asya Buyukcangaz immigrated from Turkey at 15. She said still feels disadvantaged compared to US-born students, even though it’s been a few years.
“Sometimes I don’t catch something very detailed that the teacher tells us that makes me miss out on a lot of things that other American students understood,” Buyukcangaz said. “I always feel inferior when I compare myself to the American students because I feel like I could never understand like them.”
In addition to educational obstacles, Buyukcangaz said she was hindered by the United States’ college application process.
“The college application process was the actual hardest point because I didn’t know what I was doing,” Buyukcangaz said. “I didn’t know what college is like at all because my parents didn’t go to college in the United States. I had no idea what extracurriculars should be like or about SATs. I also didn’t have a community here, so I had to find everything by myself.”
Yolanda Conway, Assistant Superintendent for Equity and Student Affairs, said the district knows mid-year transitions can be overwhelming for new students coming from different educational backgrounds.
“PAUSD provides English Language Development programs and access to counselors to help students navigate their academic pathways,” Conaway said. “PAUSD also offers college counseling services, but it’s clear that we need to ensure these services are more accessible and visible to students who are new to the community. We are working to implement more inclusive classroom strategies, such as providing additional support for students through small-group instruction, language scaffolding and frequent check-ins. It is crucial for us to create environments where every student feels seen and valued.”
Sometimes, though, it’s not just educational barriers that make being an immigrant student difficult. Junior Gabriela Suriani, who immigrated from Brazil and then Panama at 13, said it was easier to interact with people in Brazil and Panama due to their approachility.
“In Brazil, we have a massive sense of community — to the point where people can strike up conversation with strangers on the bus any other day, and it’s seen as normal,” Suriani said. “Here, I didn’t feel it as much, but after a year or so, I figured out that people here care with words versus in Brazil, they care with actions.”
Yang said she had a similar experience and while she stayed with the same set of classmates throughout most periods in her school in China, having different students in each class at Paly contributes to isolating communities.
“If you’re new here, especially if you came from another country, there’s not really just a space for you to talk to people who want to socialize,” Yang said.
Buyukcangaz said student immigrants with English as a second language who are struggling with friendships should understand that they are not alone.
“Don’t try to put the blame on yourself or think that maybe your English is not good enough to communicate with American kids,” Buyukcangaz said. “There’s so many people, especially in Palo Alto, who are immigrants and who came from similar situations as us.”
Since English was a new language for Nunes, she said although it was difficult to form friendships, she found a community through creating a club.
“After two years, I can still count on one hand how many friends I have,” Nunes said. “I was really scared to speak up in class because I was scared a lot of people were gonna judge me, so I just stayed quiet most of the time. But I have a few friends at Paly that are also Brazilian, and we made a club called Braza club. It’s really nice because all of us are there together, and I felt like, even though I’m not really friends with them, the language we speak, and the way we communicate is very welcoming.”
Despite some of her successes in adjusting to a new country, Buyukcangaz said she still misses spending time with family in Turkey, especially since her dad is still living there, which has made the transition even more difficult.
“I miss hanging out with my family and going to the beach right next to my house. I really miss eating traditional Turkish foods that I can’t find here,” Buyukcangaz said.
Freshman Myra Dang, who immigrated from Singapore at 8, said she’s able to maintain a strong familial connection in Singapore through annual vacations.
“Just this summer we spent a month in Singapore,” Dang said. “We still have our place there, and that’s how I’m able to keep a lot of my friends and family friends in Singapore.”
Although Suriani was initially pessimistic about her family moving countries during critical periods of her life, she said she’s learned adjusting to new environments is a necessary aspect of life.
Drawing from her immigrant experience, Suriani said she appreciates the privilege of gaining insight from people from all walks of life.
“It’s one thing learning from the textbook that different thoughts and experiences exist,” Suriani said. “But living different experiences, having conversations with people who share different thoughts than you, that’s a whole different thing. Learning this hands-on is incredible and great for personal growth.”

This story was originally published on The Campanile on October 29, 2024.