After airline and immigration check-in, my mom, siblings, and I hugged and kissed our family goodbye. Back then, everyone was allowed to wait at the Toncontín airport terminal boarding gate.

We showed our boarding passes, went through the gate, climbed down the stairs, and walked into the apron escorted by airline employees. Our family waved and said goodbye from the terminal balcony as we walked through the apron, up the airplane steps, and into the airplane.

I was around five years old the first time I moved internationally. I don’t remember all the preparations my parents had to do for us to enter the US as the family of an international student. All I had to do was follow her out of the terminal and onto the airplane to wherever that would lead us. I trusted and depended on my mom to get us safely to wherever we needed to go.

Now, I’m the mom my kids follow.