My father made a drastic, life-changing decision to emigrate from his native country of Turkey to come to the US. He came to the United States when he was 20 years old. He decided to come for his graduate’s degree at NCSU just after finishing his undergraduate’s back in Turkey. He made this bold decision once he figured out that that his study field, advanced semiconductor technologies, had no advantage in the Turkish job market. He finished his PhD and decided to stay on his path in America to pursue a professional career.
His first impression of this country was that it was an easy country to live in. He said, “The systems are well set for foreign people to navigate with ease”. He further commented on how getting necessities such as a driver’s license, social security, renting a house, buying a car, insurance etc. is easy. He found culture in the US welcoming and thought that the government infrastructures were well set up in terms of, roads, public services and schools.
Currently my father is very pleased with how life is in the US. My dad feels like the school system is wonderful for us kids to thrive in and he thought that there was no better place to raise us. He also feels much safer here in comparison to Ankara, Turkey. He finds the constitutional rights for the people significantly better and well protected. Turkey was different in that aspect. My dad feels grateful that the US provided the job opportunities and ventures that allowed him to build up to the position that he is in currently. He found the US to be blind to country of origin and very welcoming to foreigners. He stated, “I don’t think there is another country that can be more welcoming for people who want to focus on working, studying and creating value”.
My dad found that the US market was perfect for his business oriented mind. He was able to raise extreme amounts of venture capital money and successfully sell it 4 years later. He thought that it was a unique experience for a foreigner from Turkey. He thinks that what happened would have never been possible back in Turkey for him. What culturally shocked my dad was how individualistic the US was and how back in Turkey the community was deep rooted. The biggest challenge, in his opinion, was homesickness.
