I was raised in a very conservative family on the island of Fiji in the South Pacific. At an early age we were taught close family ties and conservative ways. Family members worked together as one unit, and we respected our elders. Upon arriving in the United States, I discovered a very different world, where children speak as they wish to their parents and at times even treat them with disrespect. This different world eventually led to some difficulties between me and my parents. When I was eighteen, a couple of my friends moved out of their parents' house and into an apartment of their own. They asked me to move in with them. These friends were born in the United States, and their upbringing was less conservative than mine. Their parents considered it perfectly acceptable for them to move out and live independently at eighteen. But when I spoke to my parents, it was clear they did not want me to leave home. My friends couldn't understand this and they kept telling me to move out anyway. I felt caught between my friends and my parents. I felt that my friends were doing something that was socially acceptable and that my parents were being old-fashioned and not behaving as Americans should behave. For me, after many sleepless nights, my obligation as a daughter overcame my yearning for independence. I realized that my parents' unwillingness for me to move out was because of their love for me. I also realized that if my friends were true friends, they would accept my decision. I told them I'd decided to stay with my parents. Most of them accepted my decision. Now, looking back, I feel that I made a right decision.