TITLE OF THE SUCCESS STORY
The school, second home
COUNTRY WHERE IT TOOK PLACE
Romania
AUTHOR OF THE SUCCESS STORY
Student
SCHOOL TYPOLOGY
High Secondary School
THEMATIC AREA
Integration of immigrants students, Students with learning difficulties
DESCRIPTION OF THE SUCCESS STORY
My name is Anatol P., an 11th grader at “Dr. Mihai Ciuca” High School from Saveni, a north- eastern town of Romania. I am from Moldavian Republic and came here to study; my parents gave me the opportunity to learn and attend a better school so as to have a brighter future. Although I am Moldavian and in Moldavia Republic the official language is Romanian, (also named Basarabia). The Romanian language from Moldavia was altered by Russian language. This is the main reason why my main problems were at first related to my classmates’ preconceived ideas about what happens in my native country and also my ironies and laughs at my way of speaking, which was a mixture of archaic Romanian and Russian languages. But I came in Romania with the thought of staying here as long as I can. No matter how hard it was for me, sooner than expected, I gained my colleagues’ respect and strong empathy. My teachers, especially my classteacher and the history teacher, felt my teenager’s inner frustrations and with patience, involved themselves in my attempt of integrating in the “Romanian student atmosphere” by helping me to show my intelligence and human potential. Through a huge effort, I managed to improve my linguistic problems and become one of the best students in the class; I even participated in a debate contest related to European Integration of Romania and Moldavia, in which I talked about it in a beautiful and elegant Romanian language, gaining the jury and public appraisal.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
It is a successful story about the delicate process of integrating an immigrant, in which his character, personality and ambition were of utmost importance. Teachers’ and school involvement was of great help; but also, the way our society strives to move on, leaving behind its prejudices by giving a chance to its citizen. Romania is not the place where all your dreams come true, but it can be the place where a talented person with human qualities visible anywhere in this world, with ambition and a clear motivation, who gets help in difficult moments, may definitely not only aspire but also reach his potential. This is the reason why this story must be known, because one more time, it is proved that in spite of the social and economic context, an open-minded and young teenager can become a conqueror simply through the fact he doesn’t accept to be a defeatist in a foreign country among unknown people.
