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ESOL My Story – Jalal

My name is Jalal. I’m 74 years old and I’m from Iran (Persia). Iran is a very ancient country with a very great civilization.

I was raised in Iran. At age 20 after I finished high school I entered the Air Force Academy College. In 1967 I transferred to the United States for continuing pilot training. This was the first time that I left behind all of my family and friends.

More importantly, I had just married and had to leave my lovely bride behind. This was very heartbreaking for me. My US pilot training lasted for two years. In this period of time I was very excited and sometimes very homesick but always thought about my goal that I must archive.

After two hard-working years I graduated from pilot training and became a fighter pilot. My two-year period in the US was a very good experience and provided me with the opportunity to live in a country with a different culture and a variety of religions and to learn how to communicate with the people.

After I went back to Iran I started my family and my career in the Iranian Air Force. Our life was very good in Iran, especially before the revolution that happened in 1979. My family consists of my wife, three sons and me. My sons ages are 46, 42 and 31. My middle son is an American citizen and about 4 years ago we got our green cards. Our aspiration is to be American citizens. We love this country so much and we try to be useful for this nation.

First stop for any newcomer in this country is to learn English and we want to give our humble thanks to the people at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, especially the lovely and patient ESOL teachers who give us this opportunity to learn English. It is my belief that literacy is not enough, we should work hard and practice, practice English.

God bless you and God bless the U.S.A.

Jalal

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