Q&A: WHS students from immigrant families

The United States is a nation of immigrants. According to a brief from the Center for American Progress from Oct. 23, 2014, 40.7 million foreign-born people live in America, and 20 million American  children have immigrant parents. The Wooster Blade interviewed eight students from immigrant families.

Interviews conducted by Shreya Gurumurthy, Shiyuan Wang, and Isabelle Cannon.  Photos by Claire Lanham and Maggie Flechler.

Julian Lubell

Q: Where is your family from, and who in your family were the first immigrants to America?

A: My father’s parents were American and French. My grandpa worked on the Marshall Plan after WWII and he met my grandma in France.

Q: How many of your family members live there?

A: My grandparents traveled to Asia, and my dad was born in Vietnam before WWII; he then traveled through India, Turkey and Switzerland before coming to the U.S to complete high school and attend Cornell University. My mother was born in the U.S, and attended the University of Minnesota.

Q: How does your culture influence how you do things and the activities you do?

A: We eat different foods, such as a variety of cuisine from around the world. We also celebrate Galete des rois, which means kings cake. This is where you eat a marzipan tart with a little porcelain figure in it and whoever gets the figure in the slice of cake gets to wear a crown for the whole day. I also eat crepe, which is like a flat pancake, and we drink hot chocolate and dip croissants and baguettes in it.

Sikander Jathaul

Q: Where is your family from, and who in your family were the first immigrants to America?

A: My family is from Amritsar, India. My dad came here first in 1988.

Q: How many of your family members live there?

A: I have a lot of family still in India today, especially lots of cousins.

Q: How do you feel having part of your family in another county?

A: Having family in another country has honestly not affected me that much because I was born here and most of my family lives here.

Q: How often do you visit your family there?

A: I get to visit India this year; however, I have not visited since my uncle’s wedding, which was eight years ago.

Q: How does your culture influence how you do things and the activities you do?

A: My culture says a lot of things that aren’t in the American culture, such as not to cut your hair, and not to eat certain animals. Alcohol and tobacco are prohibited in my culture. Helping others and donating to charity is something my culture firmly believes in. I always try to keep these things in mind; however, I do not follow everything in my culture.

Lauren Sarzosa

Q: Where is your family from and who in your family were the first immigrants to America?

A: My ancestors are from Spain. They migrated from Spain to Ecuador and then from Ecuador to the United States. However, only my dad was born in Ecuador. My mom is a born U.S. citizen; she was born in New York.

Q: How much family do you have in Ecuador?

A: My mom grew up in Ecuador, so most of her aunts and uncles live there. My aunt and grandparents, from my mom’s side, live in Orrville. Most of my dad’s family lives in the United States.

Q: How often do you visit your relatives in Ecuador?

A: My older sister, Ashley, is the only one who has gone to Ecuador. She was only a year old, though. So, my other siblings and I haven’t actually met my relatives that live there, but my mom often talks about them. It’s nice having family in different countries because I could easily go visit and have some place to stay.

Q: How has your Ecuadorian culture influenced the way you do things here?

A: Ever since my parents came to the U.S. and started a family, they lived life as if they were in Ecuador because the culture there is basically all they knew. So, from a very young age, my parents taught my siblings and I how to be respectful and to this day, they are strict about rules at home. Also, the food that they ate in Ecuador traveled with them as well. As home, we always have rice, which is a big thing in Spanish cuisine, and the food that we eat is just prepared differently, adding spices and seasonings.

Jenna Zhu

Q: Where is your family from and who in your family were the first immigrants to America?

A: My family is from eastern China, and my parents were the first immigrants [in my family] to America.

Q: How much family do you have in China?

A: Almost all of my extended family lives there. I have three cousins, an aunt and an uncle here in the U.S.

Q: How do you think having of family in another country has affected your life?

A: I feel like having a lot of family there has made my sister and I grow apart from our extended family because it’s not easy to have reunions with family living on the other side of the world. Holidays are different as we meet with other family friends in the same situation instead of actual family.

Q: How often do you visit your relatives in China?

A: We visit China as much as we can, but I’ve really only seen my grandparents on my father’s side three times in my life.

Drosos Kardulias

Q: Where is your family from and who in your family were the first immigrants to  come to America?

A: They’re from Greece and my grandfather was the first, followed by my grandmother, both on my dad’s side.

Q: How much family do you have in Greece?

A: I have a lot of cousins there.

Q: How do you think having family in another country has affected your life?

A: I feel like it’s made it a lot more interesting because it really gives me a perspective on what’s happening there in terms of the recession and how they’re coping. It also means my dad and I have somewhere to stay when we visit.

Q: How often do you visit your relatives in Greece?

A: I tend to visit them about every year or so.

Q: How has your Greek culture influenced the way you do things here?

A: I tend to eat later, like they do in Europe. It’s allowed me to meet other Greek people, which I wouldn’t have come into contact with otherwise. It means I know some Greek music and speak some Greek. I’m [really] thrifty, and I occasionally go to church at a Greek Orthodox monastery.

Jessica Ezeji

Q: Where is your family from, and who in your family were the first immigrants to America?

A: My family is from Nigeria, Africa. My father was the first immigrant in my intermediate family that came to the United States. Relatives in my extended family have immigrated to the U.S before my father. I am not sure who they are, unfortunately. However, before my dad immigrated to the U.S., he studied in Germany. My father went from Nigeria to Germany, where he pursued his P.H.D. in microbiology. After that, he went to the U.S. for a position as a post-doctoral at the University of Illinois in 2001. I came with my mother when I was four, in 2003, to come live with my father. We lived in Urbana- Champaign, a suburb of Chicago. Then in 2007, my father got a job as an Ohio State microbiology professor at the OARDC, and we moved to Wooster I was nine then.

Q: How many of your family members live there?

A: My relatives live in numerous places such as Great Britain, Nigeria, France, South Africa, Kenya and other places that I am not sure of.

Q: How do you feel having part of your family in another county?

A: Most of my family still lives in Nigeria. I wish I could see them as often as I can. I hear a lot of students my age talking about visiting their relatives. I can never have that experience because my family is scattered around the globe.

Q: How does your culture influence how you do things and the activities you do?

A: There are some differences in America and Nigerian culture. For example, In America you can call an adult by their first name if they ask you too, and it’s considered polite. In Nigeria, if an adult asked you to call them by their first name, you would still put a Mr. or Mrs. in front of their first name. I struggle with this because when I’m in my sports, and my coach asks me to call them by their first name, I feel awkward, and compelled to call them using Mr. or Mrs. in front of their first name.

Q: Are you an American citizen? If no, will you become one in the future?

A: I am not an American citizen, but I plan on pursuing that one day.

Pierre Paul

Pierre Paul (11) is from Guyana and his family moved to the United States in September of 2003. Currently, his entire family has green cards.

Q: Was it hard for your family to adjust living in the United States ?

A: Yes… Very, very hard. We faced much ridicule and prejudice. We are still adjusting.

Q: In what ways was your family a victim of prejudice?

A: I remember walking into the old store at Hawkin Market when it was still open and being followed around the store by employees until my mother got frustrated and we left all the groceries and just left the store. And, I remember kids making fun of my siblings’ and my parents’ strong accent. It was just a lot of things that almost make you lose faith in humanity.

Q: How is your family still adjusting to living in Wooster?

A: Still hate the weather. But, we still have strong Guyanese values so it is keeping in mind that we live in a different culture.

Q: Do you think that being raised with a family of immigrants made you different from other kids your age?

A: Yes I do. Growing up in a country that struggled and growing up struggling and watching my parents hurt made me value hard work and not prioritize the newest shoes or newest phones like some other children who have never seen really poverty first hand. America has amazing opportunities that people take for granted and it’s quite sad… But, that is the way it happens at times.

Q: Do you still remember what life was like before moving to America?

A: Sadly, not as much as my siblings, but I remember.

Raffaela Mueller

Raffaela Mueller (12) was born in America, but her parents moved here from Germany in 1993.

Q: Do you have a dual citizenship right now?

A: Yes. I was born here and have German citizenship from my parents.

Q: Do you like having dual citizenship or have you ever considered just having an American citizenship?

A: I would never give up my German citizenship. It opens so many doors. I can travel anywhere in the EU.

Q: Do you think growing up in an immigrant family made you different from other people your age?

A: I am not sure, I mean I guess I am different from Americans. I grew up in a German household in America. I know two languages have seen two cultures. I guess if anything, sometimes I feel like it has given the ability to be more open. But, that is a pretty pretty big generalization.

Q: So, in a way, would you say it gave you an advantage in life?

A: I guess. I mean knowing another language would give anyone an advantage.

Leah Sim

Leah Sim (10) and her family moved to the United States from South Korea in 1999 when she was three months old. They moved here because her dad wanted to earn his Bachelor’s. She and her family are currently all permanent residents.

Q: Was it hard for your parents to adjust living in the United States?

A: It definitely was not easy with the language barrier and the entirely different culture, but my mom feels that it was manageable.

Q: Do you think your parents are still adjusting these days?

A: I would say they are still learning. They never went to school in the U.S. and so I often find myself explaining to them how things work here.

Q: So, in a way, you are also taking your parents and helping them adjust?

A: I suppose so, since they are not as familiar with the culture here.

Q: Do you think being raised in a family of immigrants made you feel different from other American youth?

A: I think I’m always subconsciously, if not consciously, aware of the fact that I’m not like my peers. However, it has never served as a barrier when it comes to interacting and socializing with others.

Q: Do you want to pursue a citizenship sometime in the future?

A: I’m not currently certain whether or not I want to pursue a U.S. citizenship because I have not decided if I will stay here or later move to Korea.