ESL100 Spring 2026

     Imagine that on a random day, one of your family members gets kidnapped by the colonizers, and a few days later you see him getting killed in front of your own house. This is the story of my great-uncle. He was a  mujahid , a warrior who defended Algeria during the French colonization period in 1935. While he was on a mission, he got kidnapped in the mountains by them. Every member of my family was confused, scared and worried because he didn’t come back from his mission. A few days later, he was brought back one last time by the colonizers and was assassinated that day in front of his house while his entire family watched. This awful event caused deep trauma, fears and reshaping in my family’s life.      After this tragedy happened, my relatives were traumatized by the smallest social activities and had many restrictions on their movements in the city. They stopped going out, and only did it for the basic necessities like buying food, water and i...

     Imagine that an innocent fifteen-year-old girl living in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) and she and her family are on a list to be exiled to Siberia. This was my greatgrandmother who lived in a small village in Belarus, a formal Soviet Republic. This happened a few days before the Second World War started, and the situation in the USSR was dangerous because of a new government which had strict rules for everyone. For instance, my family had their own land for farming, but the government said that they must give it to them. In fact, my family wasn't happy about it, so their names were added to a list to be exiled to Siberia. However, shortly after being added to the list, the Second World War began, and the government paused exiling people. World War II and all these circumstances helped my great grandmother survive. She avoided exile, met her husband, and created not just my whole family, but a strong environment in it.       One of...

     When I come to the United States for the first time, I felt myself like a baby who could not be an independent or adult person. All my life, I had lived in a small city Brest in Belarus with my family who loved and took care of me. I do not have a big family, but their love and support for me were huge. Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe, that has our own cultural aspects. Some people say that people can look angry and rude, but it is just for the first time when a person starts talking with them, they open and show a different and very friendly side. The national language in my country is Russian, and people don’t speak English at all. My experience living in a completely different country and city like Chicago has changed the way how I see myself and my own culture a lot because my difficulties in adaptation in the United States have influenced my values, habits and my relationships.       I think the most difficult part for me was language ...

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the economic situation has been unstable, and many cities were destroyed due to war. In order to strengthen the new China, the government announced a series of early urban policies between 1949 and 1959. My hometown, Kaiping, is located in southern China and near the sea. Because of its good location, it has played an important role in the development of  the economy.  The government decided to expand Kaiping’s economy through commercial activities. In addition, t he government encouraged population growth to develop Kaiping.  These early policies have deeply influenced my grandfather’s family structure, immigration, and my life. One effect of the early policies was that my grandfather grew up in a very large family. In the 1950s, t he new government  urgently  needed   more labor to develop the city. Therefore, it encouraged families to have more children .  My grandfather was born at that ...

One hundred years ago, Chinese women were expected to bind their feet and stay at home. Today, they run companies and lead scientific research. For thousands of years, Chinese society was shaped by Confucianism. Under this system, women were  expected to obey the principle of    “ obey father as a child, obey husband as a wife, and obey son as a widow ” .   In an agricultural society where physical strength mattered  the  most, women were considered less valuable than men.  How  society  value d  a woman was by how she played her role in the family. Therefore, t hey had no right to inherit property, no access to education, and no voice in public affairs.  Women’s tough situation   didn ’ t  change until  China's rapid development  in economy. T he new society  offer ed   women  financial independence, educational opportunities, and the power to redefine their social roles. In my own family, the jou...

A Tragedy That Changed Everything One event can change a family forever, and for my family that moment arrived when my grandfather was kidnapped. It happened around forty years ago, when my grandparents and their children were living in Piedecuesta, Colombia.It is a small town, but this situation brought fear and uncertainty into my family. They did not know what was going to happen. The only thing they wanted was for my grandfather to return safe. The kidnapping affected my family emotionally, financially, and socially. It caused emotional trauma, changed relationships and trust, and created consequences that are still present today. At the beginning of my grandfather’s kidnapping, my family was in shock. They were receiving many calls from different numbers. After some calls, they realized that the kidnappers wanted money to release him. My grandfather had many properties in Piedecuesta, so my grandmother had to sell most of them to pay the money they were asking for. This situation ...

  Wei Li ESL 100 Feb ruary 23 , 2026 Dark Pandemic        The experience that I will never forget is the COVID Pandemic, which was a challenging and difficult period that started in 2020. The beginning of 2020 should have been peaceful days during the Chinese New Year holiday. However, the sudden outbreak of the pandemic made my holiday different from the past. The peaceful holiday was completely changed by news that was spreading rapidly, and people started to feel anxious, even scared, including my family and me. As the news about the pandemic was reported, my family and I realized that the days to come would be challenging and difficult. The epidemic period was dark and hard for my family and me. The COVID Pandemic has influenced my education, and had a deep effect on my life. Compared to my previous life, my family’s and my daily routine during pandemic had been changed completely. As the pandemic developed, all Chinese people were told ...