When I became a U.S. citizen earlier this year, it was the culmination of an unexpected journey that started thousands of miles away. 

I’m from a small Romanian town called Mizil, about 50 miles north of Bucharest. Like many immigrants, I came to the United States looking for work and adventure. What I didn’t realize was that I would also find a career in trucking, a family and a community that would help me build a future.

Growing up in Romania, I was always fascinated by the world beyond my hometown. I learned English by watching American movies with English subtitles, never imagining that language would eventually help me build a life in the United States. Today, such language skills are absolutely essential to fueling your success.

I came to the US on a work visa. It led to my own American dream.

In 2019, I arrived on an H-2B work visa to work with a trucking company called Interstate Moving, Relocation, Logistics. The plan was simple: Work for a few months and then return home.

Things didn’t turn out that way, but I now have a better story to tell – the one about the American dream as an immigrant.

I know that there are often heated conversations around immigration. I’ve found that when you clear away the noise, there’s........

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