Interview with Emmanuel
David Lambert
December 13, 2020
SOC 318
Interview Project
From Cameroon to Virginia
For the fall semester of 2020 I decided to take a sociology of immigration class (soc 318) as a pre-requisite for a sociology major. I was skeptical about whether I would enjoy this class or not because I didn’t really know much about immigration to begin with. Throughout the course I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to learn something new about a topic I lacked knowledge about. The course overall was rich in new and interesting information that allowed me to grow an interest about the topic of immigration. The final project of the course was to conduct an interview with a person who is currently or had previously lived in a different country and has an immigration status. This project was an eye opener for me because you obviously know that individuals in another area of the world are going to live a different lifestyle than what we live in the United States, but actually hearing the personal experiences of what an individual had to face in another part of the very same world is humbling. The interview project is one assignment that could be potentially beneficial to the exchanging of experiences between two people living in different parts of the world.
The person I chose to interview for this project was one of my roommates. I live in a student housing apartment facility, so I have 3 other roommates with whom I share a living space with. His name is Emmanuel Cronshaw, and he was born and partially raised in Dwolla, Cameroon. Because of the covid-19 virus we try to stay out of the common areas of our apartment to limit the chances of spreading germs. For this interview, Emmanuel and I both mutually decided via text that the best way to conduct this interview would be through zoom. Both of us are students at JMU and we both have jobs outside of school as well. Because of this we had to discuss the interview earlier in the semester so that we would be able to plan a day that would work with both of our schedules. In the meantime, while we were waiting, I asked Emmanuel to just think about anything he would want to share with me when we conducted the interview. I created a list of question that I thought would be good to ask during the interview and I also created a small guide of the points I wanted to cover so that Emmanuel would have an idea of what we were going to talk about. Once the day arrived, the two of us joined a zoom meeting and I began the interview.
At the beginning of the interview, I could tell Emmanuel was somewhat nervous. We have been roommates for a little over 2 years now. Over the course of living together we would obviously have to interact with one another. We are always able to talk and hold conversations that aren’t awkward or weird. However, the conversations that we have usually don’t have topics that involve deep personal life things. My first few questions were answered with short responses. The interview was roughly 40 minutes long so as time progressed, I was able to notice how Emmanuel began to get comfortable and really go into detail with some of the questions I asked him. His tone changes over time and you can really tell that some of the questions I asked really made him think. This project was not only an opportunity for me to learn about my roommate, but an opportunity for him to reflect on his life and think about what he’s going to do moving forward. When the video was transcribed, the script didn’t match word for word what all was said due to Emmanuel having an accent. There were a few words that weren’t picked up or a few that were picked up as a different word that sounded like what was said. After a minute or two of listening it is easier to understand everything that is said between the two of us.
The first 3 minutes or so are primarily getting to know who Emmanuel is and where he comes from. He says that he was born in a country in the sub-Saharan part of central Africa, known as Cameroon. On a map Cameroon is located right beneath of Nigeria. Him and his brother, along with their three sisters, were raised in a Christian household by parents that he said used to be “really conservative”. His family of 7 were considered to be a “middle class family” that never really got into trouble. They were more of a what we would consider a quiet family. His parents as far as personality goes were described by him as “really supportive”. With the support that his parents have provided, Emmanuel and his siblings have gotten the opportunity to travel and extend their experiences of different places around the world. One of his sisters lives in Great Britain, another in Dallas, Texas, and another in the Virginia Beach area. The main reason behind their scattering in their drive for a high education. Emmanuel’s brother graduated from a well-known university in Virginia while Emmanuel is currently enrolled in one now. Different levels of education are what determine what future opportunities you could be eligible for later on in life. Higher education is something that Emmanuel’s parents always wanted for their children, so their endless support gave them the opportunity to pursue, in Emmanuel’s words, “something that’s necessarily not possible where we are from because of political issues and social issues”.
Having an opportunity to get a higher education and create a brighter future for your family is something that would be considered a ‘pull factor’. In the Theory 1 power point we went over the migratory process and two factors that came into play when considering the option of migrating. A pull factor is something that creates the demand for immigrants. If one country is offering a better option than another, the decision maker is more likely to want to choose the better package. A ‘push factor’ is just the opposite. Something that pushes immigrants out of a country is considered a push factor. For Emmanuel’s family, political and social issues occurring in their home country could have been the push factor for their case. Emmanuel’s dad had participated in a program called the visa lottery, without telling anyone. In Emmanuel’s words it was a “congressionally mandated lottery program which allows people to form nations that are historically underrepresented in the US to move here”. According to Torpey this would fall under the category of government regulation with migration. His father ended up being one of the winners of this program and decided to finally tell his family. This is how the idea of moving to the United States was put into conversation. Although Emmanuel was skeptical about the idea of moving to the US, he also felt like he “didn’t really have a choice”. Based on the ‘Worlds systems theory’ discussed in “Theory 1” power point, I would infer that Emmanuel’s family then made their decision to move based on the social pressures, lack of educational opportunities, and better job opportunities which are some of the patterns that many migrant families consider when decision making. These reasons are also described in a YouTube video attached to the power point called ‘Why Do People Migrate Away From Their Home Country?’
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As the interview continues, we got into how Emmanuel and his family were able to integrate when moving into the United States. According to the ‘Integration’ lecture, integration is the process of what happens to immigrants after they arrive in a new country with economic, social, political, and cultural aspects all taken into factor. During multiple points in the interview, Emmanuel described the process of moving to the US as “really difficult”, “long”, and “challenging”. Majority of the immigrants today integrate through assimilation. Milton Gordon has a guide to what he calls the ‘7 stages of assimilation’. It describes the aspects of life in which each immigrant must adapt in order to be considered a member of a society. Some of these aspects include marital status, cultural appropriation, values or lack of, attitude reception, etc. The whole concept is covered in the ‘Integration’ power point. Emmanuel described integration as having “to go out there, you have to go to school, you have to make friends. And that means you have to speak English”. One factor that is highly taken into consideration when it comes to the ability to integrate is your language. If you are unable to learn English or not provided the adequate resources to do so, then you are more than likely going to be looked down on by society. Emmanuel had previously had experience with the whole moving process when he had moved to France from Africa. However, he says that the moving process to the US was a lot more challenging than his other moving experiences.
When asked the question ‘why is moving to America harder than moving anywhere else?’ one might say it is because of how much further ahead we are compared to third world countries. Emmanuel says that his home country is indeed a third world country and that when trying to compare it the US, its nearly impossible. “Everything. Everything is just night and day” and “it’s like Heaven and Hell” were his responses when I asked him what the biggest differences were between the two countries. He was able to say that American is a lot more “organized” and that we have laws like other countries, but we actually follow them for the most part. Almost all of the immigrants that make it to America come from other third world countries. This means that they are coming from countries under extreme government leaders, minimum resources, lack of technology, minimum social opportunities, and extreme poverty to a country full of opportunities for financial and educational advancement, endless attractions, technologically advanced (although not as much as some countries), etc.
Imagine how that would make you feel; to go from one world to what seems like another in the course of a day. One of the first things that Emmanuel remembers when entering US was a man at the airport. He was wearing what appeared to be wearing “a cop uniform” and was questioning Emmanuel’s family. Because they didn’t speak English at the time, they were unable to understand what he was saying and requested someone who could speak French. What was so memorable about this moment for Emmanuel was the way this agent spoke. It was his first-time having exposure to someone who spoke English. He described the man’s speech as “fast”. This wasn’t the only thing he and his family struggled with; however, it was the biggest thing mainly because there isn’t much you can do in America without speaking English. Emmanuel made the observation that he noticed the lack of ability to speak English for his parents was especially difficult because they are older and more conscious of the fact that they don’t fit in and they are also not in their school years so that they could learn.
The overall point that I have been trying to make goes hand in hand with the ‘American Dream’. In America we tend to sell this hypothetical and perfect life that never really seems to actually exist anywhere other than in our imaginations. While immigrants like Emmanuel and his family knew little about the United States other than what they are shown on Tv or read in the news, they still decided that moving to this country was the best decision in that moment. Emmanuel mentions at one point that what he knew about America came based off of a show he used to watch called ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’. He was asked during the interview if he regretted having to move to America and he says that he has “no regrets overall”. So, the only unanswered question that I have after completing this assignment is, is the American dream worth it?
Soci 318 immigration project.mp4
David [00:00:03] Hey, I’m David, and this is an interview that I’m conducting for my sociology immigration class. We’re going to start off by saying by you saying what your name, what your name is and where you were born.
Emmanuel [00:00:14] So my name is Emanuel, Emanuel Cronshaw and I was born in Dwolla, Cameroon, Cameroon, it’s a country that’s located in sub-Saharan Africa, in central Africa.
Emmanuel [00:00:28] It’s located right underneath Nigeria, pretty much. Yeah.
David [00:00:33] OK, and so can you tell me what your family background history is?
Emmanuel [00:00:39] So I was born in Cameroon, I was born in a Christian home. I’m the fourth in a family of five children, one brother and sister. So my family, you were born in a house in a middle class, middle class family.
Emmanuel [00:01:03] Never and never really got into into any sort of issue, any sort of trouble. Would you like a quiet family? No. No issue whatsoever. You know, the typical typical normal Christian, you know, family like like where you like you will find everywhere, everywhere else.
David [00:01:20] Can you describe what your parents are like.
Emmanuel [00:01:25] To my parents, my parents are there are they used to be they used to be really, really conservative.
Emmanuel [00:01:33] And I think that’s also due to the fact that in in a lot of African African countries, people tend to be at least back then, people tend to be really close minded, you know, but my friends used they used to be really conservative. The fact that we’ve traveled a lot since we were since I was a kid really, really opened up your eyes. As far as like personality wise, they’ve been really supportive of us to put it in every stage of our lives. They always try to push us to God and get an education, know, get an education, try to be nice to everybody, you know. And they always provided everything that we needed to always make sure that we had everything that we could possibly have to to go to school and get an education and just to be good role models for everybody around us.
David [00:02:38] Do you have any siblings?
Emmanuel [00:02:40] Yes, I have siblings. I do have I have three sisters and one brother. My brother actually graduated from University of Richmond years back. You get a bachelor in science there.
Emmanuel [00:02:57] So we’re kind of we’re kind of all over the place because my oldest sister lives in in in in Britain, in Great Britain. And my second oldest sister, she’s in Dallas, Texas. And my younger sister goes to see Christopher Newport University. So we kind of all over the place. That’s also due to the trauma history, because it goes back to the fact that our parents wanted us to have an education and education.
Emmanuel [00:03:32] And that’s something that’s necessarily not possible where we are from because of political issues and social social issues. So that that that is due mainly because of that.
David [00:03:48] OK, can you describe the environment which you spend most of your childhood years and so like elementary school and stuff like that. Right.
Emmanuel [00:03:55] Right. So I was kind of I was a little bit luckier than most of the kids around me. I grew up in a nice, quiet neighborhood, which is a lot different than most most of the most of the kids back home. The elementary school I went to was a private elementary school. A really good elementary school, actually, which is still around with a great ratio of like students having great academic success. So I was really fortunate for my parents to be able to pay for me to be able to attend an elementary school. And then I when I got to high school, it was a little bit it was a little bit tougher. First of all, in our system, education system, the Francophonie system. So to me, I’m going to give you a little bit of background of how a camera is. So Cameron used to be used to be on the other side of the French. So we were really colonized by the French, like like other countries like Ivory Coast or Senegal. But if the French people had a great impact in our culture and our education system, so our education system is pretty much tailored to what they’re doing in France. So we don’t really have middle school. So we go straight from elementary school to to high school. Right. So I went from elementary school to high school. He was that he was definitely a challenge experience because I went to a private high school. But, you know, it was only private by his name because in my country, you know, the way the world is, you guess don’t know how to explain. It’s kind of complicated to explain the way the way high school is. Or is this like a use ratio of students per class? You know, I don’t I don’t really I’ve never I’ve never really I understand why it’s the case, but it’s a lot of students per class and that makes it difficult like them. That’s that makes a learning experience difficult and also the teaching experience difficult for. So it was definitely a challenge, you know, being an 11, 12 year old kid, going out of my comfort zone in an elementary school, I was into the good small ratio of elementary school to a high school that’s a big high school with a lot of students trying to find my way. So it was really, really, really challenging in that regard. And so I only spent my two first years of high school in Cameroon. And after that, me and my family moved to France and moved to the south of France. We moved to Bordeaux. And it was a it was a new experience for me because that was my first time going to France. Right. And it was totally different, totally different, totally different, well, from what I’ve I’ve I’ve I’ve I’ve I’ve used to on camera and it’s totally, totally different as far as like school is better. You know, we have more resources for students, you know, the library. You have teachers that have like office hours and they’re able to help students in academics, you know, we have sports. You have so many different things that you guys have here, but we don’t have the opportunity to have it on camera. So that was really great in that regard. And then I spend the last two years of my high school here in Virginia. So the way also forgot to tell you that the way high school is in the Francophone system, it’s seven years instead of four here. Right. So it’s really seven years of high school, you know, seven years of high school right after elementary school. and also my experience here in in in high school was nothing. Nothing but great.
David [00:08:15] OK, so during your high school experience, can you tell me what made you want to go to college?
Emmanuel [00:08:24] When they want me to go to college, for me, it was kind of a no brainer to go to college because my parents have always pushed us to go get to go to go and get high education.
Emmanuel [00:08:35] So that was not really one thing, one particular instance in high school that made me want to go to college for me going to college. I’ve always been associated in my mind and it was kind of normal for me to go to college to. Yes, so there was nothing, nothing specific that happened.
David [00:08:53] Can you walk me to the steps of what made you to what made you decide to decide what college to attend?
Emmanuel [00:09:04] Right. So when you move here and when me and my family move here to the state, right, we are free to leave here in Northern Virginia. And one of the things I was looking for is I didn’t want to go too far from home. I wanted to go a little bit far from home, but not too far, you know, visit family whenever I can. You go back on weekends and see able to see him, to see mom and dad. So that was my sort of my number one criteria. And then number two was the community. I wanted to be in a community where a friendly community and I think this is something I, I, I find here in Harrisonburg, Harrisonburg. It’s such a such a great community. And not only people here are excellent holders, but they always open to help somebody on campus. You know, you got great professors, students and staff all genuinely care for one another. So that was done, made a big difference in my decision to come join you.
David [00:10:09] OK, so for the first two years of college, can you describe, like, the transition from high school to college?
Emmanuel [00:10:16] Right, so transfiguring here, moving here to Harrisonburg, you will definitely challenge because, you know, that was my first time living away from, you know, from home, first time being far from home. I didn’t know anybody when I came to GM. I didn’t know anybody. I had to make new friendship, new relationship. And that was something that was hard for me because I’m I’m not somebody that’s not sure I’m going to go out there and, you know, try to make some connection like you take sometimes for me to to get to know people and build that trust that you’re more like. Yes. Yes, I’m definitely I’m definitely an introvert. So it was something that I really had to challenge myself to get out and and meet new people and make some connections and your friendship. So, yeah. So all of the academics, it was it was challenging also because I didn’t find high school hard when I got here. I actually think it was easier than what I was accustomed doing in friends or in. I think high school was really easy, but once I, I, I got into college, I struggled. I struggled for my first semester to adjust, you know, because the way, the way, the way, the way the classrooms I conducted classes conducted in college is very different from what we have in high school, you know. Yeah, definitely in high school, the teachers, the teachers have more time, one on one with kids when in high school, in college is not the case. You know, it’s definitely not the case in high school. So it was definitely, definitely challenging in regard to.
David [00:12:12] So what is your major and why did you choose it?
Emmanuel [00:12:16] So I’m a health science science major. I’ve always loved science. I’ve always loved science.
Emmanuel [00:12:23] And I’ve always I’ve always wanted to do something that will help my community. I was actually a chemistry major at first when I when I had Jamie. But I just feel like you wasn’t it wasn’t the right the right path for me after, you know, after one year being in the chemistry program. So I decided to to to go get a bachelor in science. And I just think it fits well with what I’m looking for and what I want to do later in my life. I want to be able to do something that’s going to it’s going to help the people around me and help my community. And also something I can go back home in Cameroon maybe one day and implement, you know? So that’s why I really love I really love the field of science. You know, you can pretty much walk everywhere in the world with the health science degree.
David [00:13:28] OK, did you ever have an opportunity to travel outside of your home country while you were there?
Emmanuel [00:13:34] Yes. So I travel a lot. So like a lot of Lagos, I was in Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, who also also be Ghana. So I did a lot of a lot of countries in in the African continent. And I went to Belgium, had the chance to go to Belgium once when I was when I was a kid. Yeah, I did some I did some traveling there and there.
David [00:14:05] When was the idea of moving to the United States brought up and how did your parents tell you?
Emmanuel [00:14:11] Right. So my friends never thought me that the. We’re planning or they were thinking about moving here, I don’t know if you have heard of it, there’s this thing called the visa lottery, which is a chukka. It’s a congressionally mandated lottery program which allows people to form nations that are historically underrepresented in the US to move here. So my dad played at and he didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t even tell my mom that he was playing that right. So you play that and you want you know, he was one of the winners and he told my mom that you want to show us that, OK, that’s great. And whatever. And he can talk to us that.
Emmanuel [00:14:57] What do you guys think, that we should move to the U.S.? So I was like, I don’t really have I don’t really have a choice. But at the same time, I was kind of skeptical because, you know, I didn’t really speak English at the time. My English was really, really limited. I only spoke a few words from what I’ve learned in school or or TV shows, you know. So I was really skeptical in that regard that I would have to. It’s almost like starting a new life, right, when you have, like, learning new language. Right. I was skeptical in that regard, but for me was it was all it was it was always like, whatever they want to do it, I’m just going to have to fold.
Emmanuel [00:15:42] And so for me, it was just like as long as I’m with you guys, I don’t really care where I’m going, you know? So the process really it was a I wouldn’t say it was an easy process because once I got here, that’s when it became difficult because I had to settle in.
Emmanuel [00:16:01] And I said, Alain, that means you have to go out there, you have to go to school, you have to make friends. And that means you have to speak English. Otherwise, you just in the past. So the process really started for me when we actually got here in this state. That’s really where the experience started for me.
David [00:16:25] Did you know anything about the United States before moving?
Emmanuel [00:16:29] I didn’t know a little bit because I used to watch just this show on TV, on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air right as well. Now it’s like, right, right. So I used to think that America was every in America was just like that show. Right. And also my my my one of my older sister was going to college in University of Central Florida, so I didn’t know a little bit, you know, a few things in there. And they’re from the state, obviously. But, you know, I won’t say that I, I, I like you like big picture, right. I knew a couple of things, you know, but the president was an.
David [00:17:13] Where were there any events going on in your home country that affected your decision to move?
Emmanuel [00:17:23] Decision to move to the state, yes. I think so, I think so because Mike, my cameraman, it’s it’s pretty it’s pretty a third world country, right? We have a lot of a lot of. A lot of. Political issues, corruption. Yes, it’s really, really, really complicated. And those issues have an impact on the development of the development of our country. You know, when you look at when you look when I was when you look at the education system, you look at the way colleges are, for example, like high school, it’s not even free in in Cameroon. It’s something you have to have a to to to go to high school. And some parents don’t have the finances to, you know, send their kids to school. And you have a huge number of aid who don’t even have a high school degree or even never been to a high school. In some regions of the country. In some regions of the country you have. Yeah, you don’t even have high school. Like in the northern part of the country, there’s some places that I don’t even have high school because the way the region is, teachers don’t want to go there to teach kids this because there’s nothing out there and it’s not secure. Right. That’s like a war in in in the northern part of the saw the southwest border in the northern part. That makes it a lot more difficult than even what it used to be already, right? Yes. So. Definitely the component of I want a better, better future for my kids, you know, I think that’s what made my parents think, you know, let’s just move to the state. I want to give my my kids a better a better chance than what I have right now. So that’s what it comes down to.
David [00:19:46] So how did your family get to the United States? Like what were the travel plans?
Emmanuel [00:19:51] And so we moved to the state by plan. Right. We took an eight hour plane flight. And once we got here because my uncle was living here since the mid 90s. So he’s actually the one who. Pick this up at the airport, right, and it will live with him for a couple of weeks just to get in before we went before we went on our own, the process really to move here. It wasn’t really a difficult process because the the US embassy. Really assisted us in that regard, so we had to get a visa to get a visa from the American embassy, right.
Emmanuel [00:20:43] And we also had to do a several medical exam like HIV, you know, all those medical exams just to make sure that you’re healthy before you come here. So the process wasn’t difficult, but he was really a long process because in between those. Those. Those events or those magical medical exams that you have to turn in, right? It takes a long time for them to look at your look at your arm, look at your document pretty much, and see if your feet and you’re not the only one that’s like thousands, thousands of other people. So it’s definitely, definitely a long process. A long process. Very for me it was and it wasn’t something that was really a really big deal. Yeah.
David [00:21:37] Do you still have family in the United States? I’m sorry. Did you have family back home?
Emmanuel [00:21:42] Yes, I you know, my grandmother is my son, my uncles, cousins. I do have a I do have the majority of my family still in Syria. Deborah, when was the last time you visited on. So this is a home was summer of twenty eighteen, so as was the last time I went to Cameroon and I found out nothing, nothing has really changed since I’ve been here. You know, it’s almost gone like it’s even degrading to see the least, like it’s getting worse. So that’s something that, you know, but I always make sure they’re trying to go try to go as fast as I can. But it’s getting it’s getting a lot harder to go by just because the friends that I left there in high school, like most of them, don’t even live in Cameron anymore. They’ve emigrated to Europe, many of them. So whenever I go back, you know, it’s pretty much just to see a family, you know, it’s just to see family and come back. Yeah.
David [00:22:54] Anyone traveling from the United States or anyone traveling from another country across the United States border, how did you feel when you you and your family had made it to that point?
Emmanuel [00:23:07] It was a relief, it was a relief, it was relief not not in the sense that, you know, not in the sense that, oh, I’m here in the state, you know, everything is going to be great. But for me, it was a relief in off of this is the this is the starting point. Right. For me, that was that was my my, my my mindset into that moment.
Emmanuel [00:23:31] And and also also.
Emmanuel [00:23:38] The the the the selling and process, right, the selling process was something that I was I was looking forward to, looking forward to because. When I moved to France, where I’d already had already had sort of like an experience of what it was like to move somewhere else, but the benefit that I had in France was I already knew how he spoke the language. You know, I would speak French.
Emmanuel [00:24:11] So it wasn’t an easy process for me to get siloing compared to moving here to the United States, because I had to like very new language, which is something that’s challenging.
David [00:24:22] What was the first thing you remember after entering the United States?
Emmanuel [00:24:27] I was there and the first thing, the first hour I’m going into the United States, the first thing I remember was when you’re the customer, the customer service at the airport. And there was this agent and he kept asking those questions. And he kept asking us questions. And I couldn’t understand what he was saying because these folks so fast and I was like the first time for me, like having that exposure of like an American talking to me for the first time, like I didn’t understand anything. You was saying that I literally, literally had to act for somebody who speaks French like a translator and help us because we couldn’t he couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying. So that was like that was a pretty funny moment when I think about it now. But trust me, it wasn’t funny back then. Right. Because, yeah, like somebody who was working like a almost like a like a cop uniform. Right. He’s asking all those questions. Trust me, it’s not funny at the time, but by now I think it’s funny.
David [00:25:34] What were what were the biggest differences you were able to point out between your home country and the United States?
Emmanuel [00:25:41] Oh, everything everything is is just night and day, it is night and day.
Emmanuel [00:25:47] Pretty much everything and everything here, it’s much more organized, you know, you guys have laws that you follow and you can’t really bribe somebody here. But back home, you know, you can just bribe somebody to get through the laws and get out of your shoes, get out of problems, you know, so it’s just really night and day. And it’s it’s not something you can even compare. I, I, I can’t even compare it to my my home country in here. I mean, it’s, it’s unthinkable because it’s it’s like heaven and and paradise. Heaven and hell. So, you know. Yeah. I can’t even I can’t even compare those two. Ah. It’s just, it’s just a much better year in general.
David [00:26:33] So you said when you arrived to the United states, you had your uncle pick you guys up and show you around. Is that very helpful?
Emmanuel [00:26:42] Yes, yes, that was really helpful because, you know, he had been living here for more than 20 years now. So he you know, he knows he knows what’s going on. So he he is the one that really shows how things work. And whenever I have an issue, I can still to this day, I can still call him in like, hey, you know, I have this issue. How do you how do I how do I solve that? How do I get into, you know, solving that? So he’s really he’s really a big, big help for us whenever we need. And it’s something we need. And information is just he’s just right there for us now. So that was a big plus having somebody that’s been here already who can show you the way around. And I don’t think everybody who moves here actually, you know, and somebody you can trust, you know, it’s a big thing. Somebody you can trust and you can show you the way around. You don’t. You don’t. And he doesn’t mind showing you the way around.
Emmanuel [00:27:38] That’s that’s great. That’s something that’s great.
David [00:27:42] Did your family buy a house before or after we went to the United States?
Emmanuel [00:27:46] No, we bought a house. Once we move here, it took us like a couple of couple a couple of months to buy a house, because just the process, and especially when you move here, you don’t really have like a you don’t have a bank account yet here. You have to open a bank account. You have to go to all these things. And, you know, it’s it takes a lot of time to do this.
David [00:28:12] What made your parents choose a location when moving to the United States?
Emmanuel [00:28:17] So.
Emmanuel [00:28:20] Like I said, the big thing was to find somebody you knew and somebody you can trust. And since my uncle was living here in Virginia, already was living in Northern Virginia. So for us, he was like a no brainer. That means we have to we have to move to another area, you know? And also, you have to look at, I guess my friends has to look at the lifestyle, the schools around. What kind of school do they have around? What kind of colleges do they have? And also like living costs. Right. Of the lifestyle here. Just about. I think it’s a bunch of bunch of options. And you have to like look you have to look for you have to look around for that.
Emmanuel [00:29:08] Yeah, but my uncle, he was he was pretty much he was pretty much like the target point because we had to move where he was because we didn’t know anybody else.
David [00:29:20] Do you regret moving to the United States?
Emmanuel [00:29:24] No. No regrets overall. No regrets, even though I do.
Emmanuel [00:29:29] I wish some things would be better in the nation, but I don’t have any regrets. I don’t have any regrets because whenever I look back. Look back home. And I look at what some of the what some of my friends who stayed back home. Now, like what have become right now? Not to say, you know, you can’t you can’t you can be successful back home, but it’s a lot harder to be successful because because there’s a lot more obstacle. Right. You have a lot of we have a lot more resources here, the successful way, even though even though it is, you know, it is expensive and education is expensive compared to back home. Let me there’s no regrets. There’s no regrets. Social wise. Financial wise. When I look at the future, there’s really no regrets on the decision that my parents made a few years ago to to move here. I’m happy.
David [00:30:40] What kind of jobs did your parents choose when they were settling their life into the United States?
Emmanuel [00:30:45] Right. So my my mom, when we moved here, she decided to go to school to become a registered nurse. My dad, however, he didn’t want to go back to see didn’t want to go back to school because he was like, there’s no way I’m going back to school with my age. And also because he was already like a successful, you know, CPA back home before him, that was like no way it was going to like do some odd jobs, you know, small jobs. You know, he was like, no, I’m not going to do that. Plus, it’s not going it’s not going to be able to feed all my family. Right. So I might end up doing because he only has his own company back home. What he end up doing is you end up walking from here.
Emmanuel [00:31:42] Right. So he works here and he’s able to, you know, to just work from work, from work, from a distance. Right. Using Zoom and whatever, using and technology we have nowadays to be able to to work from home.
Emmanuel [00:31:59] Yeah. My, my, my, my, my parents, my dad, he didn’t he didn’t want to have like a like a job.
Emmanuel [00:32:08] But my my mom did my mom while she was going to school, going to nursing school, she, she was working at a clothing store.
Emmanuel [00:32:23] She was working at a retail clothing store. Right. Yeah. But my dad was a mom. I wasn’t didn’t have a didn’t have a job. Yeah.
David [00:32:32] Oh. Are you able to get a job or you’re old enough to get a job.
Emmanuel [00:32:37] No, no, I I came here when I was I didn’t have my house to yell to get it. No. What was your first job? My first job, well, when I was like my first job in the state then was I used to work at a fast food restaurant that was my my first job here. And it was really a opening experience for me because I was like, I am never I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life. So even even give me the motivation to go to college and get the education and get a good job later on, you know.
David [00:33:22] Did you and your family have any struggles like socially when suddenly into your new home?
Emmanuel [00:33:29] Yes, I personally, I, I didn’t have a lot of social issues, I said I get some of the older people because the older people, they are more conscious of like, oh, my gosh, I don’t speak English. You know, they’re going to people are going to judge me. Right. But for us, I was going to school and I was I was in high school. I also had I also knew people in in in high school that didn’t speak English. So so I wasn’t really I wasn’t really. What’s the word? I wasn’t really a shame, you know. But I was wasn’t I wasn’t I wasn’t speaking English. So I was able to make friends pretty quickly, relatively really quickly, you know, but I feel for my parents, it was it was a lot more difficult. Just because you don’t you know, you’re not in the environment where you can make friends, you know you’re not going to school, right? So it’s definitely, definitely more of a challenge for like adults and older people.
David [00:34:39] How has your family’s immigration status changed since moving to the United States?
Emmanuel [00:34:45] So since you moved to the US side, since we became the visa, right, and now we are green card holders, so we are permanent, permanent resident rights. So we pretty much have, you know, all the all the rights that any any American can have except we can we can vote. Right. We do also we do also have the opportunity to become to become citizens, but I just I’m just not ready yet to become a citizen of the US. I don’t know. I’m just I’m just I’m just kind of proud of where I am, you know, where I’m from. So I’m I’m quite near that step that I want to become the American citizen. Maybe maybe in the future. Maybe in the future will. But as of now, I. I’m just a permanent resident. Yeah.
David [00:35:45] What goes you have for yourself?
Emmanuel [00:35:49] What do I have for myself?
Emmanuel [00:35:54] In terms of the near future, I would say finish my bachelor’s degree in science and then I want to go I want to go to grad school. I want to go to grad school and get a masters in health science. Those are like my two big objective goals in the in the in the near future.
David [00:36:20] Do you plan on living in the United States or going somewhere else.
Emmanuel [00:36:27] That’s a good question and that’s a good question because I’ve been thinking about going back, going back at one point, because I have this, I’ve always thought that in order for. For our country to to get better in order for our country to to to get to the level of European countries or the United States, it’s going to come for people like us who. Lived in those countries, in the industrialized countries and see how it’s like so we can, like, bring our experience back home, who made things better? So I’m definitely thinking about going back home at one point to share what I’ve learned here, to meet with my people back home, you know, so I do think I’m going to go back home. I won’t forget. Yeah, that’s a possibility.
David [00:37:37] What’s your greatest satisfaction in life?
Emmanuel [00:37:42] Well, my greatest satisfaction. Oh, wow. My greatest satisfaction. That’s a that’s a great satisfaction.
Emmanuel [00:38:02] Oh, no, I’m going to say, especially if I had to give an answer, I would say the satisfaction is. I’ve been able to to live in three different three different continents, right, and my greatest satisfaction is I’ve been able to. To adapt, right, I’ve been able to to to learn from each of those experiences and and and get better as a human being, right.
Emmanuel [00:38:45] To to take lessons from them and and and and learn them and and cowey carry those with me whenever whenever I am.
Emmanuel [00:38:57] I am doing a project, whenever I am, I’m sharing my experiences with everybody else. So. So I would say that’s probably my biggest satisfaction in being able to apply what I’ve learned in those different experiences. Right. Yeah.
David [00:39:20] Well that sounds very good. Thank you for your time and that’ll be all for this interview. I appreciate the time for you speaking to me and I greatly appreciate it.
Emmanuel [00:39:28] Thank you, David. I appreciate the time. You should share my experience with you. Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you.
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