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My name is Anna and I was born in New York City on October 12, 1989. While I am a first generation American, my parents, grandparents, etc. were not. Both of my parents are from Poland and they grew up there. My father is from a town called Sanok while my mother grew up in a larger city called Krakow.

My parents met each other while living in Poland and they both decided to immigrate to the United States in the late 1980's. The reason for their immigration was to escape the Soviet Communism that occurred in Eastern European countries until 1989. It was not that easy for people to leave Poland during that time, however my parents kept trying and finally managed to leave and come to NY.

Both of my parents settled in Greenpoint, Brooklyn which has been and still is a predominantly Polish-Speaking area. My mom knew to settle in this area because she had friends that had earlier settled there after coming from Poland. They were able to find work after networking with other Polish immigrants and slowly established their new lives here.

My parents soon got married and had me in 1989. We lived in Greenpoint for a few years after I was born and afterwards, my family settled in another Polish area called Ridgewood, except this time it was in Queens. We lived there for a short time and then moved to Maspeth, Queens where we currently reside. My current neighborhood has a Polish area however it also has alot of Irish immigrants as well and it is more diverse than Greenpoint or Ridgewood.

My family has always chosen to settle in areas like these because they feel more comfortable living amongst their fellow Polish immigrants (as many ethnic groups do). They have not fully assimilated to American culture and the main language that is spoken in our home is Polish. This was my first language and when I started to go to school, I had to learn English on my own. I consider myself equally part of the American and Polish cultures and try to combine elements of each into my daily life.

My email address is anna.cymerman@baruchmail.cuny.edu

My Polish family and I