Chapter 2: Plant response to elevated CO2 - DRUM - University of ...

officers, trying to answer the questions he is asked, but too nervous to
understand. His shoulders slouch but later he walks out proud, a happy man
with his papers stamped and documented, entry granted. He joins a woman and
a little girl who hug him so tight like they haven’t seen him in years.
When my turn comes I feel a strange dryness in my mouth, if this officer
here has a fit, if my name somehow appears on some malfunctioning software
generated security list, if he doesn’t sign my papers, I will be sent back, it is too
late to be sent back now, after preparing for a year with the GRE and TOEFL and
the paperwork. I, shortly to be christened resident alien momentarily forget what
an index finger is and keep my forefinger on the fingerprinting machine. The INS
officer rolls his eyes, signs on my papers, and wishes me luck for my graduate
studies. It is over! I take my first, legalized step on American soil to find a
payphone and call back home to my bleary‐eyed, tired parents at the other end
of the globe.
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