Interview with Val Moscote
INTRODUCTION.
On December 4th, 2023, at approximately 9:00am I got to learn more about one of my friends and her immigration process to the United States. I had the pleasure of interviewing Val Moscote. Val immigrated from Columbia when she was around ten years old. Her life was not given to her on a silver platter, her and her family sacrificed a lot and worked very hard for their life today. Throughout this interview, Val talks about the pull and push factors of migration, the social networks that influenced her family to move to Virginia, the different institutions which shaped her arrival, the process of legalization and asylum, and so much more.
METHODS.
As far as methods go, I originally struggled to find someone to interview. The people I asked first, didn’t want to be posted on such a public platform. This could be partially because sharing immigration stories, for the people I know, can be a hard and stigmatizing process. After some time searching for people, I texted one of my best friends at JMU and asked her if she knew anyone I could interview. She texted me back and told me that one of my friends, Val, is actually an immigrant. I texted Val right away and she was so responsive to me and agreed to do a Zoom interview the next morning. She was so nice about being posted on a public platform and so excited to share her and her families story that she is so proud of. I knew Val spoke Spanish, but we never talked about anything else, so interviewing her and learning about this part of her life was such a great experience and made me see Val in a totally different light.
I created two pages of questions to ask Val when we met on Zoom. The questions started out more basic asking Val to tell me more about what Columbia was like, and then started to move into more questions about the process of immigration and the hardships her and her family went through. Val was extremely responsive to every question and was the most open and helpful participant I could have had. She opened up for the hard questions and really let me see her life through her own lens.
LIFE IN COLUMBIA.
Val Moscote was born in Columbia in South America. She described Columbia as a very hot and tropical place where individuals speak mainly Spanish, but some people do know English. In Columbia, Val explains that there are a lot of cultural differences. For example, Val said that walking down the street or to class, people would wear jeans and nice tops. In the U.S., especially in JMU, people go to class in sweats, hoodies, or go to class after they just woke up. Val was explaining that in Columbia that would never happen. Even if the school was a public and not a private school it was expected that the children would wear uniforms and look “neat”. If they didn’t look neat, the students could be sent home.
Then Val talked about her town. She explained that were she grew up everyone knew everyone. She said that was very unlike how it feels in the U.S. In her hometown, Val talked about how safety was a very big issue for her and her siblings. She explained that when she was a kid she could never just go to the mall with her friends or by herself. Val later talks about how growing up in a more dangerous situation was one of the “push” factors that actually made her family want to leave Columbia. She told a story about this video of someone in her neighborhood getting shot because these robbers wanted to take their purse. “That could happen to anybody. And I know that could happen in any country, but like, my town was so small that like, the person who got shot, my parents [would] know them”.
WHY MIGRATE TO THE U.S.?
Val came to America when she was 10 years old. She says that the hopes of her parents were “wanted [her] and her sisters to be safe” and for “more opportunities for an education”. Val currently goes to JMU and is on the pre-med track. Her and her sisters all got scholarships to colleges in Virginia. She explains in Columbia that the economy wasn’t great even though her parents were both doctors, all of the sisters going to college was out of the question. The opportunities for education was a pull factor to the United States, whereas the safety concerns in Columbia were a push factor for her family to leave Columbia.
As we learned in this course, social networks very much impact immigration choices. When asked if there was a reason for moving right to Chantilly, Virginia, Val explained that they had family friends who used to live in Columbia that went to school with her parents and lived in Chantilly. She says that these people “took [them] under their wing for like a good eight months” and provided a place to live. They also helped her parents start from scratch and get jobs, a car, etc.
The Theory of Migration, as explained by Massey, really emphasizes that migration is really a social process. Val having this family who took them under their wing allowed her family to feel more comfortable migrating to a completely new location and decreasing the risks of the unknown. Massey explains that migration networks increases the likelihood of migrants not returning to the sending society.
Val talked about how this family enrolled her and her sisters in school in Virginia and helped get their vaccination records/immunizations for school. She explained that it was so helpful to have someone on your side who already knows how to do all these processes so they didn’t have to feel like they were in it by themselves.
FIRST MOMENTS IN VIRGINIA.
I asked Val is she remembers her first moments in Virginia and she responded that she remembers it so vividly. She explained that she remembers getting off the Dulles Airport and the scenery being just completely different. Since they didn’t have highways where Val grew up in Columbia, the drive on the highways in Virginia felt like the longest drive for Val when it was really only a “10 minute drive”. Once they got out of the car they went for a walk. She said, “It was fall, so it was even more beautiful because all the trees were like… the leaves were like turning red and orange. They walked around the neighborhood with her parents, their friends, and their dog and she said the houses looked so different from what she was used to, there was a community pool, and it was a quiet neighborhood.
THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.
Context of receptions very much shapes immigrants’ settlement and integration into a new place. Some dimensions of reception, as talked about throughout the course Sociology of Immigration, includes the character of the labor markets, local institutions, government policies, the natives’ attitudes, etc.
The school system in Columbia is very different then the school system in America. Val explains that she basically had to relearn everything she learned when she went to school in Virginia. The school calendar is also different in Colombia. When she left Columbia, she was already halfway through 5th grade, but when she arrived in Virginia, they were only at the beginning of the school year. Columbian schools only go up to tenth grade so Val watched all of her friends in Columbia graduate at 16 years old and then going straight into med school or the working world while she is still in school. Val is proud of her friends and cheering them on from a far but still recognizes that school for her is such a great opportunity and she “Wouldn’t change the way that [she’s] doing it because [she’s] her”. The way she speaks of her opportunities to learn at JMU is so refreshing, as I can tell she is so grateful to get this chance.
As far as policies go, immigration is a very long process and Val shed some light on the situation. She explains her family started the process towards the beginning of 2013 but they didn’t leave till October of 2013. To get a visa from Columbia, individuals have to prove they are “stable” in home, with property, etc. Also, the Visa means that you will come back to the sending country. All five of her family members were able to get their Visa to the U.S. After that, they started the process of selling their home, selling their cars, quitting their jobs, unenrolling from school, all of these things that people don’t really think about when they think of immigration.
She said that they didn’t tell their families and friends they were leaving because it was too hard and for safety reasons, but she said they “knew we wouldn’t go back”. Val explained that her family was going through a tough situation where people were threatening her and her family. When the got to the U.S., they asked for asylum and it was granted and they felt much better about people knowing they left.
WHAT DOES RESIDENCY MEAN?
Val is a resident of the United States. The process of getting full citizenship is very long and COVID halted everything for a while. Because of these conditions, Val cannot go back to Columbia but can go to other countries in South America. So, what exactly is residency? Val explains that being a resident of the U.S. means that she has her own social security number, can get housing, can get jobs, is legal under the United States, etc. She explains that she cannot vote or go back to her home country yet until citizenship is granted.
Val explained that her father asked for asylum on the spot as soon as they got to Dulles Airport. She explains that that is not the “typical” process of asking for asylum. She explained to me that a more “normal” process would have been getting a lawyer and asking for asylum through the lawyer. She said that the airport holding their family overnight made her a little nervous at first, but the existing social networks in Virginia allowed her family to find a lawyer very quickly.
Another “barrier” in the context of their reception was that first lawyer. Since her and her family didn’t speak English and were trying to understand how everything works, the lawyer basically took their money for years but did not help them. Once her mother got a job at a daycare, one of the mothers of a child in her care spoke Spanish and was a lawyer. That social connection helped Val and her family overcome the previous legal barriers and language barriers they were facing.
She explains the process of getting a house, and a credit card, and a car, and a job in the receiving society is all very interconnected and very hard because you cannot have one without the other. “It was like a chain, like, if you didn’t get one thing, like you, you couldn’t get anything else”. Eventually, they were able to open a credit card and build credit and buy a house and all that but the process of getting there seemed to be one thing after another.
ATTITUDES FINDINGS.
Coming to the U.S. and learning English was obviously difficult, but Val explained her and her sisters picked it up pretty quickly. As far as her parents go, they are still in the process of learning English, as it is not an easy thing for many people. Val said as a child she would get frustrated having to call the school office her herself, or talking to customer service for her parents, or calling to get credit cards for them, or even just having to do errands. As she got older, she realized that “hey, it’s actually really hard to learn a whole new language from scratch”. In class, we have talked about how children having to translate for their parents can be a source of tension. Val did a great job of explaining her frustrations as a child but also highlighting the struggles of learning a new language as an adult while trying to get everything set up in the receiving society.
THE “AMERICAN DREAM”.
Once her parents saw their friends getting new opportunities in the U.S., her parents were “drawn to the fact that they are so stable after being here”. Val explained that the U.S. holds quite the reputation in Columbia. She said, “Like in Columbia everybody was like obsessed with the U.S. It was like a dream to come here”. She further explained that people in Columbia would try to keep up with American trends but her parents were more so pulled in by the “American dream” of being able to provide more for their children even if it meant sacrificing themselves.
Val talks about her parents being doctors in Columbia. She remembers people coming up to them in her hometown and just giving them their symptoms and her parents being able to help them on the spot. Although Val explains that it is a dream to live in Virginia and get the opportunities she has, sacrifice and work is the backbone of doing well in the U.S. Her parents gave up their jobs to move here and, due to many barriers, cannot continue being doctors here. She explains that all five of them work equally very hard to continue to live the life they want.
She is very proud to be Columbian and would never change where she is from as it molded her into the person she is today. She says she will always think about Columbia and “assimilating” more into the American culture does not erase nor negate all they have been through.
CONCLUSION.
Hearing about Val’s life and being able to see her looking back on these different times of her life was an opportunity I am so grateful to have. Her and her family have been though so much to get to where they are now and I could not be prouder of Val and her accomplishments at JMU and throughout her whole life. Seeing her genuine appreciation for her opportunities and for her parents making hard decisions to let her thrive is so inspirational. Seeing how all the push and pull factors, social networks, policies, natives attitudes, different institutions, the role of the “American dream”, etc. all are intertwined in the process of migration was intriguing. Being able to interview Val Moscote was such an honor and I could not be more grateful for her participation. 
Ashleigh Stanley: [00:00:00] Can you state your name?
Val Moscote: I’m Val Moscote.
Ashleigh Stanley: This is a digitally recorded interview. This interview is conducted by Ashleigh Stanley on Zoom on December 4th, 2023 at approximately 9am.
So, where were you born?
Val Moscote: I was born in Columbia in South America.
Ashleigh Stanley: Can you tell me a little bit more about Columbia and where you grew up?
Val Moscote: Yeah, of course. Um, Columbia is a very, um, well, for my area specifically, it’s very tropical, it’s very hot. Um, we speak Spanish only, but I did grow up learning English. However, moving here actually helps me develop a well, like a good understanding of the language. Um I would say the attire is very different.
Um, going out everybody would have to always wear jeans. There was like no sweats. Like you couldn’t really go out like in pajamas to class. [00:01:00] And all the schools, like no matter if it was like public or private, you had to wear a uniform. And it had to be neat. And if it wasn’t neat, you would be sent home. And they were very strict about that.
Um, yeah. And that’s all I can really remember. It was a very small town. Um, everybody knew each other. It’s very different in that sense. Um, also like for safety issues. Like, I would never really be able to go to the mall with my friends by myself. Um, I mean I was younger, but even like, even my sister who was 15 wasn’t able to do that.
Cause It was very dangerous.
Ashleigh Stanley: Yeah.
What, what age did you come to America?
Val Moscote: When I was 10. So that was 2013.
Ashleigh Stanley: Oh my gosh. What, what was your, your parents like hopes for migrating to America?
Val Moscote: Um, definitely the safety concerns more of like them wanting me and my sisters to be safe. [00:02:00] Um, and also more opportunities for an education.
My sisters and I are very, um, we’re We’d like to take advantage of the opportunities we receive, so we, all three of us were able to get scholarships to colleges, whereas in Columbia, it’s, the economy hasn’t been great, um, and my parents weren’t really getting paid sufficient amount, and they were doctors there, but they wouldn’t have been able to afford or ask to go to college, so they really liked the opportunities better in this country for us.
Ashleigh Stanley: So are you a first generation college student?
Val Moscote: I am.
Ashleigh Stanley: Do you feel like that puts more like pressure on you to do well in school?
Val Moscote: It definitely does, but I wouldn’t say that’s the reason why I would want to do well in school. It’s definitely because my parents sacrificed They sacrificed so much that I don’t want to let them down [00:03:00] and I like, I’m really someone who likes to take every opportunity she gets.
Like coming to JMU has been a blessing considering that like, I’m not from here and like, I didn’t know much about it, but um, it was great. So I just want to make them really proud and let them know that like, I’m not taking this for granted. Like we came here. It was a huge sacrifice.
Ashleigh Stanley: Did your, did you and your family move right to Virginia or did you move to a different state first?
Val Moscote: Yes, we moved to Chantilly, Virginia right away. Um, and we stayed there. We’ve like moved around the area, but we’ve only stayed in Chantilly.
Ashleigh Stanley: Is there a reason for choosing Virginia or was that just…?
Val Moscote: Um, we had family friends here who are from Columbia and they went to school with my parents. So they kind of like took us under their wing for like a good eight months, I would say.
Um, and we were able to live with them and they were super nice about it. And [00:04:00] then eventually we were able to take on our own and my parents got jobs. We got a car, like we had to start literally from scratch. But I’m happy about where we are right now.
Ashleigh Stanley: So would you say having that, like, social network of people who are already here helped, like, your family to be used to Virginia?
Val Moscote: It helped a lot, yeah. They took us everywhere. They, like, they showed us, like, Costco. They actually helped me and my sisters enroll for, like, school. I feel like we were like one weekend. Um, they helped us like enroll for school. They like helped us go get like our, um, vaccination records, like our immunizations for school.
It was like they helped like my mom with connections and like they’re like she that’s how she got like a job and my dad to it was very helpful to have someone here like who knows how it works, right, not just be here by yourself and they try to figure it out. Yeah.
Ashleigh Stanley: [00:05:00] For the school system. Do you think like the US school system is a lot different than the school systems in Columbia.
Val Moscote: It is yeah I like had to like, basically kind of relearn how to do math. Right. Yeah, I was in 5th grade and like it was, um, like the division was different, like how to like do like division problems. And like, um, I would say the pace is I don’t want to say slower, but it’s just for me. It felt like it was slower because the school calendar is different.
Um, so I came here and I was already halfway through 5th grade, but here you were just starting 5th grade with the time that I came in because I came in like. Um, October. So, like, the school year had just begun, but for me, the school year was about to end. So I kind of started fifth grade again. Um, but I would say it’s actually, um, much better because you kind of go into more in depth, whereas over there, you’re kind of just rushing to get through because there’s less grade levels and you just have to graduate.
Ashleigh Stanley: [00:06:00] What grade level does the school system in Columbia go up to?
Val Moscote: It goes up to 10.
Ashleigh Stanley: Oh, wow.
Val Moscote: Yeah. So basically all of my friends from home, um, from Columbia, they, um, all went into the pre med track, which is what I’m doing right now. And most of them, since they graduated, uh, when they were 16, basically, and now we’re like 20, almost 21, most of them went straight to med school.
Because over there you don’t have to do four undergrad years and then go to med school. It’s kind of just you go straight ahead. Um, most of them already had their like white coat ceremony. And I’ve been like keeping up with that on Instagram. And it’s kind of unbelievable, but I wouldn’t like change that.
Like, I wouldn’t change the way that I’m doing it because I’m here.
Ashleigh Stanley: Um, can you tell me a little bit more about the process of migrating?
Val Moscote: Um, of course. What, what like specifics do you [00:07:00] think I should talk about?
Ashleigh Stanley: Like, how was it done? How long did the entire process, like, take for you?
Val Moscote: Oh, um, so, it was actually a really long process, I’m not gonna lie.
Like, we were telling, we, well, we weren’t telling everybody we were leaving, but my parents did start the process towards the very beginning of 2013. And, like, we actually did it in October, which is a long time. Um, in Columbia, you have to be able to get a visa, and to do so, you have to show that, like, You have, um, you’re stable and like you have a home and you have property and like, like they want to like they want to know that your visa is like, it’s not for you to just leave the country never come back.
It’s like, you’re stable and you have, you have a hope and then you’re going to accomplish it and then you’ll be fine. Um, but it’s really hard and thankfully all five of us because there’s five of my family, we were all able to get our visa. Um, after that it was more [00:08:00] about, we had to start selling the house.
We sold my parents cars. We, um, gave away like most of our closets. Um, it was like, my parents had to like quit their jobs. They unenrolled us from school. Um, we like, honestly, the way we did it, we kind of just, we left and we told our families that we would be coming back because saying goodbye was like a little too hard, but we like, it’s been 10 years and like, they knew we wouldn’t go back.
But we also didn’t tell like our friends or anything like that. And that the reason that for that is because of safety concerns, we didn’t want anybody following us. Like my dad was like being threatened at the time as well with like money, like. Like it was it was really bad. Um, so we didn’t want anybody to know where we were because we just wanted to be on our own away from like that.
We didn’t want anybody to know our location and we wanted to be [00:09:00] safe. But eventually, like, we felt better because our asylum was granted. So we were more public about where we were because we’re not safe in the United States.
Ashleigh Stanley: Okay yeah. So will you ever go back to Columbia or have you visited Columbia?
Val Moscote: I have not.
Um, the only way we can do that is if we get our citizenship. So right now I’m actually a resident of the US. I’m not a full citizen because the process is very long. It’s, it, it’s very, very long. And then with COVID, it like, Halted things like a lot worse. Um, so we have to like get our citizenship, which we’re working with our lawyer for that.
And then once we’re able to, we can go back to the country because the conditions were under it’s like, we can’t go back because we’re under asylum and residency. Okay, we can go like to different countries. We just can’t go.
Ashleigh Stanley: So what’s, what’s the like technical definition of like a [00:10:00] residence or residency.
Val Moscote: Um, I’m like legal under the U. S. Like, I’m a resident. I can, like, leave the country and come back. Like, I’m like, I have a social security. Like, um, I can, like, basically do anything that a resident can do. We can get housing, like, um, all that stuff. We just like, I’m not a citizen. So, like, I can’t vote. Like, I can’t and I can’t go back to my home country yet.
So that’s like the main difference that personally I look at that I like, I can’t vote and I also can’t go back to my home country.
Ashleigh Stanley: When you came over to Virginia, did you find the process of like learning how to speak English hard?
Val Moscote: Um, honestly, I’m trying to remember because it was like Fifth grade. Um, I wouldn’t say it was like really, really hard.
We actually me and my sisters picked up the [00:11:00] language pretty quickly that everybody was so surprised, but I thought it was normal. I like, we picked it up, like, probably by the summer going into sixth grade and then into sixth grade. I was, I mean, I still was learning. Yeah. Sentences, but like, I caught up pretty quickly.
Thankfully, like, we, especially my youngest sister, she caught up so quickly and I feel like because we had prior knowledge to the language because we were able to learn some English in Columbia that like helped a lot and like. I wasn’t completely lost. Right. Um, but I definitely like, like, there’s some people who stayed in ESOL because that’s the program that you go into in school.
Um, I don’t know what it stands for, but it’s ESOL in Virginia.
Ashleigh Stanley: Yeah.
Val Moscote: Or I don’t know if it’s in everywhere, everywhere else, but. We, I was in that program only for fifth grade. And so was my sister for only fourth grade. And then they just took us off. They were like, you don’t need to be here. Whereas like other people [00:12:00] remain in that program up until high school that like I had met.
So we were very lucky in that aspect. So I think, I think it was fine. We picked it up okay.
Ashleigh Stanley: Did your parents have to learn English too, or did they already know English in Columbia?
Val Moscote: They did not know English, and they’ve, they’re still learning it, actually. It’s been a while, but they understand a lot of stuff.
They just, like, can’t, like, still speak it. It’s, like, very hard to pick up, and at first, me and my sisters got frustrated because, you know, something, like, we would always have to be the ones to call, like, the school office, or we would have to, like, help them call customer service, help them with, like, go to the bank and, like, get cards, like, we would have to run all the errands that, like, You know, as Children, you shouldn’t really be running.
But again, like they don’t really know the language and we used to get really frustrated about that. But as I’m older now, I’m realizing that like, hey, it’s actually really hard to learn a whole new language [00:13:00] from scratch when all they knew was hi and how are you? Like it’s it’s really hard because I took French in high school and like you can tell me you could say anything and I wouldn’t I won’t understand and like it’s I understand their struggle But um, they’re still picking it up. I think my mom is probably just like scared She gets very intimidated because some people speak very fast. She’s like, what did you just say? But yeah,
Ashleigh Stanley: Are there any Colombian like traditions or like cultural things that your family still does here?
Val Moscote: Um,honestly, not that I can think of maybe like for New Year’s. This is like a very Hispanic thing. We, um, because we also are able to spend it New Year’s with like a Hispanic household. They’re like my mom’s best friends. Um, we like eat. 12 grapes at midnight, like when it’s like [00:14:00] this beginning of the year for like one for every month and you make, you make like a wish.
Um, that’s like something we kept. And I think it influences because of because we still go to a family that’s Hispanic for New Year’s. So everybody does it.
Ashleigh Stanley: Right.
Val Moscote: There was like a holiday in December that was like more of like a religious holiday before Christmas and it was like a candlelight ceremony type thing But we don’t do that here because that was more of a Columbia thing That’s like the one thing I can like the big difference I can think of honestly Because that was kind of a big deal over there. It was like December 7th, I think.
Ashleigh Stanley: And that was just like a kind of like a Christmas thing.
Val Moscote: It was like a pre-Christmas thing. I think it was more like, it was like lighting candles for Virgin Mary. I think like, yeah, because everybody there is pretty religious. Yeah.
Ashleigh Stanley: Um, what’s the biggest [00:15:00] challenge you’ve experienced as an immigrant?
Val Moscote: Challenging experience? Um, sorry. I mean, uh, there are a lot of challenges, honestly. Um, honestly, for me, it’s, it’s kind of hard to see that my parents, um, work like doctors in Columbia and like coming here. They’re not able to do that. Because of like the language barrier, um, it’s just really like, I like, I feel really bad seeing that they gave everything up.
Obviously, they were willing to, but you know, they spent their entire lives like studying and like working to get to where they were. And it’s like, always been kind of hard for me to see them go from like being doctors to like, my dad is now like, um, he works for like Uber Eats and like DoorDash and like he does Instacart.[00:16:00]
So like, you know, that’s very different. Yeah, like my mom, she works at Ross and Target. So like, you know, very different things. And it’s like challenging because my mom works a lot just to like make ends meet. Um, so I feel like that aspect I think about most of the time, like recently.
Ashleigh Stanley: Did anyone in your family migrate before like your direct family, like your grandparents or anything? Or was your family? Like the first?
Val Moscote: We were the first was to get here to the U. S. We have like other family members, but they’re like, they migrated, but not to the U. S. Like some others went to Europe and then some others went to different countries in South America, but we were the first ones to come to the U.S.
Ashleigh Stanley: What was the decision, like, process to go to the U. S. and not to Europe?
Val Moscote: Um, our parents just, uh, got in contact with, like, [00:17:00] um, their friends, and then their friends were pretty convincing about the opportunities they were able to, like, help us obtain and, like, how they could help us get a, like, a jump start.
Um, they were pretty well off over here, and they, like, knew what they were doing, so I think my parents were more drawn to the fact that they Are so stable after being here for a good amount of time that like under their wing. I feel like we would be able to do well And just like the reputation that the U.S had in Colombia. Like in Colombia everybody was like obsessed with the U.S. It was like a dream to come here. Like obviously like it is a dream and it’s come true but like Everybody was trying to be trying to keep up with the trends there and like obviously that was like my big deal but for my parents it was more of like a there’s way more job opportunities over there, whereas over here there’s not and like our daughters like would feel much safer over there Whereas like here you can’t like get out of your house and go somewhere without like getting like robbed [00:18:00] like there’s just like there’s like people get shot because people, because people are being robbed.
Like I’ve seen a video of it because like they don’t hand their purse and then they just shoot them and it takes their person to go away. That could be anybody. And I know that could happen in any country, but like, my town was like so small that like, the person that got shot, like my parents knew them probably.
Ashleigh Stanley: Right.
Val Moscote: So like, it’s, it’s a very much a safety concern and also opportunities to take.
Ashleigh Stanley: Yeah. So you feel like kind of the idea of like the American dream was like a pulling factor.
Val Moscote: Yeah, for sure.
Ashleigh Stanley: Um, if someone you knew was planning on migrating to America, what would you tell them to like expect?
Val Moscote: Um, don’t expect it to go exactly as you want it to.
We’ve been here for like 10 years and obviously we’ve accomplished so much because like the way, I mean, me and my sisters are all getting a college education and there’s three of us [00:19:00] and like You just have to work very hard, but I would say it’s like, not easy to like, you know, pick yourself up right away and get a move on.
It takes time to actually settle in and learn the ways I feel like our expectations were like, a little bit different. I mean, in the sense that, like, you just have to find like, jobs and all that, but you also have to be able to keep up with the scheduling and like, be able to work hard. It’s not just given to you, like, everybody in my family has to work hard for what they get.
Ashleigh Stanley: When you came over when you were a kid, did you ever feel like you were struggling to like fit in here or did you feel like you had that that process was kind of easy for you?
Val Moscote: Um, I honestly definitely did. But it was I was more of like an elementary school. So honestly, I was able to start over in like, um, middle [00:20:00] school.
And thankfully, like, that was like, I mean, middle school is also traumatizing, but like, I, but I was able to, like, make more solid friends in middle school than I did in elementary school because everybody already knew each other. And I was just like coming in and I think I probably had like, like maybe like five friends and then that was it.
I would say I feel like a little bit more bad for my sister, my older sister. She’s, um, she came here as a sophomore in high school. And, you know, like, as a sophomore, you have pretty solid friend groups and like, it was hard for her to find people to fit in. And like, my mom said she would come home crying, like, because she doesn’t know the language and like, high school is just so intimidating.
She had to be on her own. Yeah, but she’s a trooper for that because she has a good job now and like she’s like pretty settled down but that aspect like I don’t know how [00:21:00] she did it because when even when I got to high school and I knew the Language like it was the most intimidating experience in my life
Ashleigh Stanley: How many siblings do you have?
Val Moscote: I have two. I have an older one and a younger one. The younger one goes to JMU and she’s a year below me. And then the oldest one went to Sheppard University. It’s in West Virginia.
Ashleigh Stanley: Is the, are your sisters also on a pre-med track? Or?
Val Moscote: My younger sister is, but um, my older sister was a business major. Um, so she works for um, Long and Foster’s now.
Ashleigh Stanley: Do you think your parents being doctors, like, influenced you and your sister’s decision to go, like, pre-med?
Val Moscote: They definitely did. Um, but honestly, I just remember, like, being, like, little and, like, like, ever since I can remember, all I’ve been wanting to be is a doctor. Um, [00:22:00] I kind of have to go back into my memories and figure out, like, why, but them being a doctor definitely influenced.
Like, the way our lifestyle was, and the way that they were able to help people. Like, we would just be like, at a family reunion, and like, somebody would be like, Oh, I like, I have these symptoms, whatever, and my parents were able to, like, help them, like, on the spot. That was pretty great to, like, watch.
Ashleigh Stanley: Do you remember, like, your, like, first moments in, like, Virginia, and like, how it, how you felt about being somewhere else?
Val Moscote: I actually do. I don’t know why I remember that so vividly. Um, I remember we came off Dulles Airport and the entire scenery was just completely different. Like, there, there are no highways where I’m from.
So, like, driving, like, on the highway, I was like, where are we? Like, where are we going? Like, and it felt like we were going to, like, a whole different, like, city. But [00:23:00] like, from Dulles to where we were, it was like a 10 minute drive. But it felt like the longest drive for me. And like, it was so, like, cool. Like, that day the skies were clear, and like, it was sunny outside.
And like, I don’t know, it felt like such a relief, because we were just trying to get across, and like, coming in. And like, we were actually stopped at the airport, because my dad, um, asked for asylum as soon as we got there. And then I guess airport security and the police, they were like, what are you, what are you doing?
Like they got, honestly, I don’t understand that to this day, but they basically interviewed us and we stayed overnight at the airport, which was a pretty, like, it was kind of like a, a barrier in our process. And like, I think they like felt bad because they saw that, like, you know, they had two kids, me and my sister, we were nine and 10 years old.
And they finally let us go. Um, but they were questioning us as to why we were like asking for like asylum on the spot. Um, but, yeah, that day, like, [00:24:00] we, like, went, um, we took, we went on a walk. It was, like, fall, so it was even more beautiful because all the trees were, like, they were, like, the leaves were, like, turning red and orange.
The leaves were, like, falling, like, we were walking, like, um, our neighbors, like, not our neighbors, like, um, My parents, friends, their dog and like we were going around the neighborhood and it was like a pretty like quiet neighborhood. The houses look completely different. Like, like there’s like a community pool, which like looks completely different.
Like, yeah, in that aspect, like, I remember that so vividly.
Ashleigh Stanley: Yeah. How, how is the process of like asking for asylum? You said you’re like that your dad asked on the spot. Is that like, A normal, like, things, like, right off the bat?
Val Moscote: So, apparently it’s, like, not normal. Um, I think the normal process should have been that we, like, stayed here.
Um, then get a lawyer and then ask for asylum through the [00:25:00] lawyer. My dad kind of just asked for it by ourselves when the five of us were, like, getting checked in at the airport and then, um, they took us to, like, an office and, like, we were basically being held because my dad asked for asylum, like, right there and then.
I think, like, they were just wondering, like, what are your intentions, like, you just got here, like, you know what I mean?
Ashleigh Stanley: Right. So did that, did that, like, make you or your family, like, worried for, like, feeling welcomed? In America, like when you first had that experience,
Val Moscote: it definitely did. Um, but it wasn’t anything that we couldn’t solve because our family friends helped us find a lawyer, which actually that lawyer was the lawyer process was interesting because for the.
First, I don’t, I don’t even know how many years that first lawyer we had was basically taking money from us and wasn’t doing anything. So, as we made more connections, we met, um, [00:26:00] my mom used to work at a daycare and one of the parents was a lawyer and she worked at a law firm in DC and she was able to, like, help us get, um, a new lawyer who was, like, amazing and, like, they spoke Spanish, which was great.
Um, and, like, They like got to move on with the process, but in that aspect, we were also kind of like, again, another barrier was that the lawyer was taking money from us and not doing anything. Um, but we were like able to overcome that like we stuck together and now we are where we are, but I would say it’s like it’s not an easy process whatsoever.
Ashleigh Stanley: Would you say like the process of like getting credit cards, like getting a bank, like all that stuff was like? Because I feel like you can’t have like, you can’t get a car, you can’t get a house, you know, like it’s one after another.
Val Moscote: Yeah, yeah, actually, like, that’s funny you bring that up. It was kind of hard, um, for us [00:27:00] to like, get actually like to move out of the house we were at, because my parents, it was like, I don’t even know how many months and we were, but it was definitely less than a year, a little bit less than a year, but my parents, I didn’t really have, like, A credit yet.
You know what I mean? Like we just got here. So everywhere we applied for housing. We weren’t applying for like, you know, a big house. We were, we were actually looking at like apartments everywhere, but they were all like, Oh, like you don’t even have enough credit. Like, I’m so sorry. We can’t like, it was a long process for that.
So we finally opened a credit card and like, you know, my mom was like spending and spending and spending. Um, but that issue is also like, like, we also only had a temporary, like, we didn’t even really have social securities at the, at the time, um, because we like, weren’t fully like legal. So we had a work permit, but a lot of [00:28:00] places didn’t take work permits.
So it was like a, like you said, it was a chain, like, if you didn’t get one thing, like you, you couldn’t get anything else. Um. But eventually, like, we were able to, um, find a place where we could live and we lived there for, like, a pretty good amount of time. Um, and then we, and then my mom was able to build credit and, like, so was my dad.
And now, like, me and my sisters are building our credit. So, like, now we know better. Like, we started, we, my parents started us off at 18 because they were, like, just so that you, like, understand this is very important and you need to keep up with it. Um, but it was definitely I remember it was a chain. Like, I remember my parents stressing about housing and how, like, nobody wanted to, like offer, like, like, give us, like, accept our application because we simply didn’t have, like, the right paperwork.
Ashleigh Stanley: Right, right. Do you think about, like, [00:29:00] being Colombian a lot, or does it just, like, do you just feel so, like, used to, like, just being yourself now?
Val Moscote: Um, I’ve been thinking about it more recently because we’re gonna go visit it.
Um, my uncle in Chile, um, not Columbia, but over there. Um, but I we like haven’t seen him in 10 years. So like, that’s like a pretty big deal. And I’m kind of just like I’ve been thinking more about like my life over there and how it used to be with my cousins and like how different it was. Um, but I think I’m very much used to my life here.
Of course, like, I’m always going to own up the fact that I’m from there and I’m not from here. And like, I like, tell that to people, but I mean, I’m not going around saying like, oh, yeah, like, I mean, um. But I do own that fact and I’m, I’m a very proud Colombian. I wouldn’t change where I’m from. [00:30:00]
Ashleigh Stanley: Is there anything else you’d like to add or feel like is important about your story?
Val Moscote: Um, honestly, it’s, it’s very, I’m very lucky for where we are right now. And honestly, like, nothing was given to us, like, ever, which is like one thing that like, I think people kind of expect sometimes. Um, I would just say I’m very happy to come from a family that works very, very hard. All five of us equally.
And I’ve been so lucky in many aspects. Me and my sisters, like, the reason why we went to college is because all three of us were offered full rides. And it’s, it’s insane to think that we were able to accomplish that. Within the time we were here. Um, so I would just say I feel very lucky and I hope that like many other people in this country feel the same way about the opportunities they’ve received.
Ashleigh Stanley: Well, thanks so much for participating. Learning about Columbia [00:31:00] was so fun.
Val Moscote: Of course.
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