My Family: From My Migration To The United States

When I began this assignment I thought I knew my family, however, that was not the case. I wished I knew more about my family and their origins, but being a military child we moved around a lot and never really had a close connection with our immediate family. I would say my family structure is the typical American nuclear family, where it was just my parents and my siblings growing up. However, this was not always the case within my family. My great grandfather on my fathers’ side came from Ireland. He left Ireland at 10 years old during the Potato War. He was poor, uneducated and alone, but somehow he made it to America settling in Ohio finding work as a hunter and a farmer. I recently found out that during his migration our family last name …show more content…
However, as a social worker I know this is not uncommon; refugees and immigrants of today are still facing these identical challenges my family faced not too long ago. Looking back on my genogram I can see how my family tried really hard acculturate to the American culture, first with the changing of the name and then choosing jobs that made them feel more “American”, every male member of my family except two cousins were in the military. This tradition began with my great grandfather and has continued to me. Patriotism is woven into my family’s morals, …show more content…
I have been talking about the makeup of my family that helped mold me into the man I am today, however there is more to this story. I have a child Hailey, who was born when I was seventeen and out of wedlock to a woman named Hilary in November of 2000. My family was not very supportive of this, I remember telling my father that Hilary was pregnant and he said, “Well if you can have kids than my days of raising you are over, pack your bags and get out.” Wow, that was still a little painful. I know my father meant well, however, I had the resentment towards him over this moment until his death in 2013. This experience had taught me two things; first never do that to my children, and second to be open-minded people make mistakes. Our clients coming to see us because they are in a crisis, never project your feelings or trauma upon them. Basically, treat people as you wish to be treated. Hilary and I would spilt after three years of being together, finances and the constant struggling to make ends meet took its toll on us and the relationship. Having lived through the struggles of not being able to depend on anyone at such a young age and having a child really allows me to understand some situations that a client may also be going