My story didn't start with enTránsito. It started when I had to learn to live between two worlds.
by: Dra. Mitzy Velazco, PhD
Migrating is not just changing countries.
It is learning to interpret new rules, rebuild routines, find words to explain who you were, and discover who you are becoming.
For years, I shared fragments of my experience. I talked about adaptation, identity, home, and belonging, but rarely told the complete story: how I arrived in the United States, what it meant to start over, and how that experience became doctoral research and, over time, enTránsito.
Today I want to share that story with you.
That is how it all began
In the first episode of enTránsito, I return to the beginning of my migration process and share what my arrival in the United States was really like.
It is not just a story about moving from one place to another. It is an intimate reflection on the challenges, losses, lessons, and questions that began to transform my understanding of migration.
In this episode, I talk about:
What it meant to start over in a different cultural environment.
The experiences that shaped my search for identity, home, and belonging.
How my migration experience became the focus of my doctoral research.
The origin of enTránsito and the reason why I decided to create this space.
You can watch the first episode here: THIS IS HOW IT ALL BEGAN
From a personal experience to a bigger question
For a long time, I thought that adapting meant learning the language, working, following the rules, and understanding how the systems worked.
All of that matters.
But over time, I came to understand that cultural adaptation also happens at a much deeper level.
Migrating can transform how a person understands their identity, relationships, security, sense of home, and place in a community.
It can also force them to learn systems that no one stops to explain: how to get housing, access medical services, understand the educational system, build credit, navigate work, or interpret social norms that seem obvious to those who grew up in that culture.
Many of these difficulties do not reflect a lack of ability.
They reflect that a person is trying to learn while rebuilding their life.
What no one tells you before migrating
That is also why I created a series in which I share some of the realities that many people discover only after arriving. These are those experiences that don't usually appear in forms, official guides, or conversations before a move.
Unrealistic expectations. The exhaustion of constant learning. The loss of familiar reference points. The difficulty of performing simple tasks in completely new systems. And the pressure to seem adapted when, in reality, you are still trying to understand how everything works.
You can watch the video about what no one tells you about migrating here: WHAT NO ONE TELLS YOU ABOUT MIGRATING
Why enTránsito was born
enTránsito was born to give language to those experiences. It is a space to talk about migration, cultural adaptation, identity, home, loss, learning, and belonging, without reducing the migratory experience to a story of success or failure. Because a person can move forward and feel lost at the same time. They can be grateful for the opportunities of a new life and feel pain for what they left behind. They can learn to function in a new country without feeling like they are part of it yet. They can be building a home while still wondering where their home really is. Living in transit means inhabiting many of those contradictions. And it also means discovering new ways to rebuild oneself.
This space can also be for you
Perhaps you also migrated. Perhaps you are starting over after a professional, family, regional, or cultural change. Perhaps you are supporting people going through a deep transition. Or perhaps you lead an organization and need to better understand what happens when people enter environments whose norms, expectations, and codes they do not yet know. Whatever your experience, I hope enTránsito helps you feel accompanied, better understand your own process, and recognize that adapting does not mean erasing who you were to become someone acceptable. True integration allows you to learn, change, and participate without completely giving up the identity we carry with us.
I want to hear your story
After watching the episode, I would like you to reflect on this question:
What was the hardest thing to learn when you started over in a different place, organization, or stage of your life?
You can reply to this post, leave a comment, or share it with someone who is trying to find their place between two worlds. Perhaps our story is different. But none of us should have to completely rebuild ourselves all alone.
