Getting where I am took more than an airline ticket, two suitcases, one backpack, a couple hundreds in hard currency and saying farewell to people I love.

For the most part of my life, becoming an expatriate was never considered as a choice. It’s true that I once had the right to opt into a special immigration program allowing for my extended stay in foreign soil; however, even then I chose otherwise and went straight back to the Dominican Republic. Leaving behind my childhood dreams of growing, living and spending the remainders of my days in the Dominican Republic has not been easy, nor worthless.