I Am a Descendant of Immigrants | Jonathan Showalter | TEDxYouth@Columbus

As you see me on the stage, you might think I'm an American getting ready to travel. Let me show you what's inside my suitcase. Once you see what's inside, then you can find out who I really am. Part of me is Swiss. Part of me is German. The thing is, I've lived my whole life in the United States, but I am a descendant of immigrants. Chances are, most of you are too. You are America. I am America. In my case, if you go back 300 years, or about 10 generations, then you see my ancestors coming here. Everyone that lives in this country either came here or had ancestors that came at some point. Some people came here looking for a better future. Others came against their will. No matter how a person got to where they are now, where they came from matters. It's important to understand where you come from. It's important to learn about your ancestors. Recently, my mom became interested in learning about her ancestors. She talked to other people in our extended family and did some research online. She found multiple family trees and was able to uncover some pretty amazing stuff. After I learned that my ancestors were immigrants, I wanted to help immigrants like my ancestors more than I did before. One story I heard about happened in 1733. One of my ancestors, whose name was Friedrich, lived in Germany. His family had fled from Switzerland and was very poor because of religious persecution. He was only 17 years old when he decided to come to the new world by himself. He had to make a deal with the captain of his boat to cover his expenses. The deal was that when he got to America, he would be sold as an indentured servant. So when his boat arrived in America, he was sold to Hans and Anna Klemmer. They had two young daughters. Sadly, just four years after Friedrich got there, Hans died. But Friedrich was loved so much that soon after Hans died, Friedrich married Anna. They had six more kids. That's pretty cool, right? In 2016, according to the Pew Research Center, over 13% of the U.S. population are immigrants. That means that 13% of the U.S. population are born in other countries. That might not seem like much, but it's actually almost 44 billion people. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, in 2017, if you count immigrants and their kids that are born in the United States, then one in every five people in the United States is an immigrant. People want to come here because it is safe and their kids can go to school and learn. Others want freedom of religion or freedom of speech so they don't get persecuted for what they think is right. They may have fled from a disaster like a war or a famine. One mistake some people make is thinking that immigrants are bad for our economy. However, they often take jobs that other people don't want and open new restaurants and grocery stores that help our community in many ways. Lavage is one of my family's favorite restaurants in our community. Their owner is a Palestinian immigrant from Jerusalem. He came in 1979. One of his first jobs was being a dishwasher, but now he has many employees in a very successful restaurant. According to WOSU Public Media, if you count immigrants, immigrants start businesses twice as often as native citizens. They also pay billions of dollars in taxes every year. Some people say that immigrants do not need to come here, but I think that most of them do. I don't think America is perfect, but I still think it is a great place to live. In America, you can be whatever you want if you work really hard. A football player, artist, runner, teacher, gamer, and millions of other things. Immigrants today should have that opportunity just like immigrants in the past. I want you all to remember that we all have ancestors from different countries. So next time you meet someone who you know is an immigrant, greet them with a smile and them feel welcome. Just remember that they're going to be someone's ancestor someday.