“I lived in Paris until I was thirteen. Around that age, I began...

“I lived in Paris until I was thirteen. Around that age, I began to fight with my father and stepmom. I’d always tell them that I wished I could move to America to live with my grandmother. One day, my stepmother told me: ‘You always say you want to go live with your grandmother. Well, you’re going to live with her. We bought you a ticket.’ The day I came to America was the most frightening moment of my life. When I landed at the airport, I couldn’t speak any English. I didn’t know how to find my grandmother, and I didn’t know how to get home.”