For the last six years, I've had the blessing to call the United States of America my home. I am originally from El Salvador, but various circumstances drove my parents to look for a better and safer place to raise their daughters.

I cannot thank America enough for all the opportunities that it has provided for us. Not only could I finish high school without constantly fearing who is walking behind me, but I will also be able to get a college degree in something I enjoy. For my peers, these are just things that happen in life, but I come from a place with a different mindset.

In 2012, El Salvador, also known as "the Murder Capital of the World," had the fourth largest murder rate according to a list published by the Huffington Post. In 2015, a new list published by List 25 only corroborated that the first six countries maintained their exact same spot on the list. Most of the murders in Central America are attributed to gangs whose motto is "mata, viola, controla," or "kill, rape, control.” According to ABC News, El Salvador had an average of "nearly one homicide per hour in the first three months of 2016," which is a "murder rate 22 times that of the U.S." In 2015, Fox News reported that El Salvador's "national forensics institute... recorded 911" homicides for the month of August. 53 of those murders took place on August 23, leaving "an average of nearly 30 [homicides] a day."

Right now, America's main sources of violence are coming from outside. How do you think it feels like when it is internationally acknowledged that your nation's main source of terrorism is amid its own people? I know I felt a combination of sadness, vulnerability and disgust. While reading an article by the Pew Research Center, my heart shattered when I was reminded of how "Salvadoran and Honduran children... perceive the risk of traveling alone to the U.S. preferable to remaining at home."

If you haven't realized it yet, it is because of all this that people migrate to America. It is because of the certainty and the security that is encompassed by the American Dream—the certainty that our kids can thrive and the security that we can live to see it happen. Immigrants admit that it is not always easy to achieve the American Dream. They keep dreaming, though, because there is a possibility to achieve it as long as they are in American soil.

We cannot let the American Dream die. Immigrants from all over the world are grateful for America, and the last thing they want is for their new home to turn into the battlefield they fled from. My parents weren't born here, but we mourn the lives that have been taken away lately in despicable strides. I wasn't born here, but I still pray for the United States to become united in peace again.

I am by no means saying that America hasn't seen better days, but I am positive that, together, we can stop it from getting worse.

America, dozens of nations look up to you! Love yourself and appreciate the goodwill, diversity and uniqueness of those who love you. Don't let anyone tell you that America has to become great again because it hasn't, for a single second, lost its greatness!