Imagine moving to a country where everyone is a stranger. A place where the people speak a completely different language and there’s a sense of anxiety.

Junior Miguel Ortiz knows the feeling. Originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, he immigrated to Texas four years ago.

“My dad already lived here and he wanted my family to come as well even though he visited us every year (in Mexico),” Ortiz said. “We all wanted to be together.”

However, he had to adjust to the sudden changes that came with moving.

“I couldn’t speak with anyone. It was really hard to be sitting there saying nothing or not understanding what they were saying,” Ortiz said, explaining the difficulty of not knowing a country’s language.

Thankfully, the school district offers assistance to those who need it.

“I had one of my friends help me translate and they put me in all of his classes,” Ortiz said. “I had just gotten to the school and they were like, ‘he’s your translator’.”

For him, Texas life seems like a colossal difference compared to life in Mexico.

“Texas [weather] is really crazy. It’s cold one day and hot the next. The school system is way different too,” Ortiz said. “Here you get out of school at 3:35 and over there it’s like 1:00.”

He explains that the methods in Texas differ from the ones in Mexico. Extra-curricular courses such as athletics are not offered there.

“There weren’t any sports. Here, I’ve played soccer since freshman year,” Ortiz said. “It’s pretty exciting and really fun to do. I play forward and left field.”

With intentions to carry on his education in Texas, he still plans to occasionally visit his family back in San Luis Potosi.

“I want to go to college somewhere in crazy Texas,” Ortiz said.

However, for sophomore Antonielle Degoes, living in Texas is a completely different story.

“It’s totally different from the life I live in Brazil,” Degoes said. “Here, everything is easier, things are simpler even without knowing the right way to communicate.”

Degoes arrived in North America Jan. 2 to live with her brother, nephews, and sister-in-law while she toured.

“When I arrived I just wanted to walk around then go back to Brazil. But with the time I’ve spent here, perhaps further ahead I would like to return to permanently live here,” Degoes said.

Since she doesn’t fully understand English, Degoes uses Google Translate to communicate with teachers and other students.

“It’s complicated because I know almost nothing,” she said. “But it’s also a great experience because I learn new things.”

Yet there’s a drawback to moving to another country. Degoes had to leave behind most of her family.

“The hardest thing is being away from my grandfather and my father but the good part is that in the summer vacation, I will go to Brazil,” Degoes said.

Imagine moving to a country where everyone is a stranger. A place where the people speak a completely different language and there’s a sense of anxiety. Now, think of the possibilities and new challenges that come with moving.

“It’s a really cool experience because things here are quite different from Brazil,” Degoes said. “It’s very difficult at first because you do not understand anything that the people are saying, their customs or way of life.”