On Monday morning at 8:45 I walked in the class and Jake and Deborah, who are our teachers, were pretending to be captains of a boat headed to America. They told us to come into the class. I was astonished because they led me into second class. They said that the class is on a ship.  It was ok because my friends Jett and Grace got first class and they got unlimited food. Then the captains said, “Here you can have some pieces of the food.” It wasn’t fair so me and my friend Dennis decided to sneak into first class. We were trying to be in 1908. What we did was so cool and awesome and fabulous.

By Myles Greene

Before we got on SS Oceania boat, I tried not to eat all my food. My stomach was rumbling. All the rumbling went away when I heard the boat coming to the shore. My Uncle and I ate my grandma’s bread, it felt like I was home.  My Uncle and I ran as fast as we could to the boat. I could see the future ahead. I knew I was going to make it… and I did. The boat took off and I stood tall and I made it.     

By Sofia Ulrich

I was on the boat. I was tired and bored. I hated being on this boat. There was nothing to do, then out of nowhere the boat went into a harbor. I think this is America! I walk down the stairs down to steerage and I tell my mom and dad the news. We walk up the stairs and see a statue.  Then all of a sudden everyone starts running up the stairs from steerage. All the immigrants went up to the top deck! Now the deck is even more crowded than steerage!!!! People are lifting their babies in the air – I’m like what the heck? Why are you lifting your babies in the air? I would never do that in a million years!

By Alfredo Marcellino

I saw it! I saw it! I saw the Statue of Liberty! She looks so beautiful with the seven spikes on her crown. She looks so alive. I love her green skin. I love her high crown! I love her! She means so much to me. To me she means hope. To me she means happiness. To me she means justice. To me she means love. To me she means a new life. I left my country because of a famine and all my parents potato plants died so we were forced to move. So that’s why the Statue of Liberty means hope to me.    

By Verity Berthelsen

I Emma Russo was on the ferry, bored as can be, tired, hungry enough to eat a house, but then I saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time in my entire life. She was beautiful. She stood there with her torch held high, her crown on her head, and her tablet in her hand. Me, my family, and all the other immigrants were on the deck looking at her and at the beautiful harbor shimmering in the sunlight. We felt hope and worries. We felt worried because we might not make it into the country and we might get split up. We felt hope because if we made it into the country we would have a better and a more successful life. Thankfully we made it into the country and we will have a better life!

By Cassidy Moskowitz

I stood there, staring. Staring at what will determine my fate, my future, my freedom. I can’t be sent back, if I am, I won’t live long. I won’t see my father ever again. It is close to Manhattan where I am planning to stay with my father. After going through the ocean I feel sick. The structure is big, but not as big as my home mountains. Compared to my mountain if there was 20 of that building it can fit into my mountain.  The structure is on Ellis Island where I will be inspected to see if I can live in the new world. But it is pretty, very pretty. I see people waiting at the doors as the boat gets closer. It is so unfair, why does the first class get to get off? Why do we have to go through inspection? Now we are so close I am getting more tense by the second. I am so nervous my hands have gone numb. Just then we arrive.  

By Rubie Goldner

As the S.S. MS. Oceania approached Ellis Island, the passengers  saw a massive building on the right, and on the left I saw a smaller but still a big building. I was wondering if immigrants constructed these marvelous buildings. I was amazed that these structures could hold all the immigrants streaming through the doors like a predator after prey. I felt a lot like the prey. Off to the right there were a lot of small buildings where immigrants stayed if they were going to be deported. Off to the left was a two story building. The first floor was the medical exams, the second floor was the Great Hall where immigrants would either be allowed in the country or deported back to where they came from.

By Elijah Berman Floyd

When I got off the boat the inspectors were very rough. They were shouting and pushing us into the Great Hall. They were trying to open my eye with a buttonhook. I was filled with anxiety. Then we had to go up and down the stairs for the physical test. For the legal test the inspector asked us questions. He asked me “Your name…” I froze he asked again,  “I said your name.” This time I was ready to answer. Very meekly I said “My name is Lemar Gagnon.” After that he started asking me very boring questions like: What is your place of birth? Where you are coming from? Where you are going? And other such questions. After I found out I passed I was so relieved and that is how it has gone on so far and I hope it gets better.

By Madiba Johnson

The inspector was very nice and I was very scared because I thought I was going to be sent back to Italy. He just asked me my name and I said “Leonardo.”  He did not hear me, he said “You got five seconds to say your name or you will be sent back!!!” So I yelled my name and everybody stared at me. Then I had to state  my occupation and I said in a strong voice “blacksmith.”  Then I had to say where I was from so I said Italy but I coughed on some smoke the inspector was blowing out of his long cigar. Now I was on my way to the Lower East Side in New York City. I was looking forward to going to my uncle’s house where I would get lots of food.   

By Jett DeMattia

My name is Jacqueline Levesque and I arrived at Ellis Island from France. The first thing I did was get in the medical line. Legs wobbling, eyes looking like a pitbull was about to attack and teeth shredding.  I was very frightened that I would have a disease in my eye. The doctor had a button hook in his hand. I was first up. I started to back away from the doctor and let people go ahead of me. An immigrant stepped up and was the first one in the line to have his eyelid lifted up. It looked terrifying to have it lifted! I grabbed all the courage I could and stepped forward after a couple people went. It was my turn again. I hesitated a bit. Then I thought to myself, I need to get this exam. I need to. The doctor lifted up my eyelid. “You’re good, no trachoma” the doctor said to me. I had passed!!! Oh the joy of passing and knowing I might be an American soon! My father Ernest would be so proud of me! Only a few more passes until my new fresh life! “If there are more exams I am ready,” I say to my friends next to me. Their names were Mable Tupper, Anna Jordan, Anna Morozov, Emma Russo, and Anastaiya Morozov.  

By Ella Lille Yerington

My name is Anastaiya Morozov. I am from Russia. I had to take a medical exam. The most painful and scary part was the buttonhook the inspectors used to lift my eyelid.  They were checking to see if it was clean and didn’t have any diseases. I waited and with a blink of an eye it was my turn. I swallowed a gulp and the inspectors wrinkled hand picked up the button hook. Just looking at the sharp point sent chills up my spine. My legs wobbled and sweat dripped down my forehead. The inspector leaned in closer and the tip of the hook barely touched my eye lid. He leaned in a bit closer and up my eyelid went. The inside of me was screaming in pain while the outside of me remained calm. I heard the inspector say “The eyelid is clean and she’s doesn’t have trachoma.” I wiped sweat off my forehead in relief as I moved to the next exam with my eye feeling sore.

By Tess Taetle

I just got off the boat and I could barely walk. Me and my family were ready to get into America. We were very hopeful. We got into the huge brown building. It had enormous glass square windows with little X’s in each one. It reminded me of the big police station back in Ireland. I begin to miss Ireland. But I know America will be better. We see many inspectors telling us where to go. I understand most of what they’re saying. All of a sudden we were pushed into the stairs and yelled at to go up them. I started to shake and worry. As I put my first foot forward it wobbled. My brothers were already up the stairs heading into the Great Hall. I felt my heart stop for a second as I heard crying of a mother who had to be sent back. I wanted to cry. I didn’t, I couldn’t! I wanted to stay in America. I heard my mother ask me to walk a little faster, firmly. I sure didn’t want to. I felt  too many emotions at the same time. But I managed to race up the stairs with great pain and sadness. As it was time for the worst part. The legal exams. Mabel Tupper, Ireland, Arrived in 1908, age 8.

By Kate Deming

Wow! Look at how big the Great Hall is! This building is very pretty. It is decorated with plants in little pots and an American flag that looks like it is sparkling and shimmering from the light. The light is beaming down through the many windows and everything is glistening and bright. There are rows and rows of metal beams that are filled with loads of people. “I think we are going to be here a while,” I said to Mama. It is very loud in here and everything echoes. It sounds like there are one thousand screaming people in a cave. I can hear many different languages. I am clutching tight to Mama’s arm. I am scared, and nervous, and happy, and excited, and I don’t know what to do and I don’t know what to say.

By Shoshi Fine

When I got to the Great HalI I heard what felt like thousands of different languages.
I looked around the Great Hall. There were huge poles throughout the sides, giant bars separating rows and thousands of immigrants. I could hear the inspectors shouting and I could feel myself shaking as I got swept up by a sea of immigrants and I lost sight of the beautiful hall because I was surrounded and trampled by immigrants. I could finally see the hall again and it looked even more crowded than before. Every second I felt more overwhelmed as I took a big step and I was in line. A line to the rest of my life.

By Violet Zimmerman Wexler

I was asked to follow this large inspector to a room with a puzzle. At the time, I thought he was leading me to a way out of Ellis Island. Turns out I was being taken to do another medical test. The puzzle was a bit confusing and I only had 3 minutes to finish. At first, I started just randomly putting the puzzle together and then I got the hang of the puzzle. The puzzle was very complicated. I had to put wooden triangle blocks into the outline of a square. It took me about 2 minutes and 30 seconds.  I finished the puzzle with 30 seconds to spare. Then the large and scary inspector told me that as long as he saw me thinking about the puzzle and trying to put the puzzle together, I would pass the test. I passed the test! I am really looking forward to my life in America. I wish that my entire family could be here in America with me.

By Dennis Steel

My name is Jordan Gagon and this is my story. It was time for the legal check. I was so scared but happy that if I passed I could go to America. I barely passed the test because I was so nervous. The inspector was so tall that he could not see me. I stood on my tip toes and then he saw me. When I was doing the legal test he did not hear me the first time because I was mumbling with fear, so I had to redo the test. Finally I passed the test.

By Beckett Fox

“Anna Jonson,” echoed the voice of the inspector. I wobbled to him. I went too close. “WHAT’S YOUR NAME MISSY!” yelled the inspector. I jumped. “Anna,” I said quickly. “ANNA?” he yelled, “Anna?” he said slightly softer. “Anna,”I said weakly. “How ‘bout your last name,” he roared. I hesitated. I opened my mouth then closed it again. “Who’s picking you up?!” he roared in a slightly louder voice. I hesitated. And hesitated. “You need a man to pick you up,” he said moving his head closer to mine. I sat back down. I did not pass the legal exam. -Fail the legal exam √

By Ren Kirchmann

I was so scared my stomach hurt. I was thinking “What if I didn’t pass!” The inspectors just checked my exams and I passed!

I got a landing card. A landing card is a card that tells the inspectors I passed and I can go to America.I traded my Lira for American Money. I walked up to the Staircase of Separation. The Staircase of Separation is a staircase that has three sides to it. The middle means Hospital (if you had a disease). The left took you to a boat that took you to Manhattan. The right side took you to a train station that took you anywhere in America. I chose the right side that took me to a train to Los Angeles. I chose that staircase and place because my cousins Anna and Anastaiya are going there and we are traveling together. I think I will have fun there.

By Grace Macgillivray