The American Dream: Safety, Schooling, Self Expressionism, Success
The American Dream: Safety, Schooling, Self Expressionism, Success Migration: Safety With 21 years of power under his belt, Emonali Sharipovich Rahmonov is criticized for his dictatorship by Maxim Kozhevnikov’s father, a Tajikistan journalist at the time....
Dhaka, Bangladesh to the United States
Introduction My knowledge about immigration and how impactful it is on America was very little. After a semester and concluding this project it helped me grasp a better understanding. Once I heard about this assignment I knew I had to interview Mahir Azam,...
Persiana Americana- “American Blinds”
Introduction Growing up, I was surrounded by a diverse community, especially in Northern Virginia. Most of my friends were children of immigrants just as I am so it was not difficult to find who I would decide to interview. On November 26th, 2023 I interviewed my...
A New Life and Building Chains of Friends: Rehana’s Story
Introduction: For my interview, I chose my best friend’s mother, Rehana. I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to get to know her story better, as I knew little about her journey to the United States, despite knowing her for many years. This interview...
Immigrant Nation
Introduction On November 22nd of 2023, I had the honor and privilege to have the opportunity to interview my father, Sharew Kelkile, and bring light to the experiences he faced during his immigration process. He used to tell my older sister and I stories from his...
In Pursuit of Opportunity – from Laos to the U.S.
Introduction Phimmachanh Iovinelli, my step-mother, was the first person to cross my mind as the subject for this project. For the better part of a decade now, Phim (pronounced “pim!”) has been a wonderful source of support and joy in our family. She is one of the...
The Wandering Jew
Introduction Although only accounting for around 3.6 percent of the total population in the world, immigrants are the catalyst of progress as they not only embody the spirit of resilience and ambition but are integral part of the development of societies. They...
From Canada to America
Introduction The U.S. has always been known as the great melting pot. The fact that people of different cultures and countries both near and far can come to the US and integrate themselves is a testament to the amount of acceptance and diversity in the US. For the...
Abdul’s story of moving from Sierra Leone to the United States
Introduction In this candid interview, Abdul Koroma, a 21-year-old immigrant from Sierra Leone, shares his journey of coming to the United States at a very young age, showing a rich display of experiences of migration, economic and sociologic integration, and the...
Immigration for Education
Introduction When I was choosing my classes for this semester I was just looking for a sociology elective, and I came across the sociology of immigration. Immigration has always been something that I have been curious about and have wanted to learn more about. I...
Across the Sea to Deep in the Heart of Texas
Introduction On December 12, 2023, I interviewed Chantal Cato, a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines. Chantal is a close friend of my personal friend and currently lives in the state of Texas in the bustling port city of Houston. This interview was...
Russia to the United States: A Story
This is an interview conducted by Jackson Snow. The interview was conducted with David Asapaf. David is an immigrant who traveled from Russia, into the United States.
The Escape From Poland : A True Story
Introduction Throughout the course of time, immigration has always been an integral part in shaping the history, culture, and identity of the United States. From the earlier waves of European settlers to the diverse influx of the modern day people from every...
From India to America
INTRODUCTION For this project, I interviewed my uncle’s wife, and my aunt, Pooja Krumenacker. Prior to this interview, I admit I knew very little about my aunt’s life before marrying my uncle other than that she was a JMU alumnus and was raised in an Indian family,...
A Journey Between Three Continents
Introduction: Before I took this class, I had very little knowledge of the underlying sociology of the immigration process, with a lot of what I knew coming from politics-related topics. Being interested in further expanding my knowledge, especially from a...
The Puzzle Pieces of Forming Community
Mrs. Natalia Speer originally planned to temporarily live in the United States to participate in a PhD program to study post-Keynesian economics. Twenty-two years later, Natalia is a working professional, married with a family, a devoted Chiefs football fan, and is...
Proudly Turkish
Setting up for the Interview When I first went to Burçin's home she greeted me before I got to the unit to help me find which door was hers. We sat at her kitchen table and she offered me Turkish delights as well as tea. She was warm and welcoming to me and the...
From Across the Atlantic
Introduction Throughout this class, I was about to learn a lot about the complex systems of immigration into today's society. This project especially allowed me to gain further insight into some of the many realities that immigrants face in their quest to become an...
A Great Journey Across the World: Korea to the U.S.
Introduction For my interview, I was able to talk to my sister’s boyfriend, Jungwoo son, about his immigration experience. Jungwoo was born in South Korea and came over to the United States in 2006, when he was nine years old. Prior to this class, I knew only...
St. Lucia’s Melody
Introduction “She grew and with that, came curves and contours, with that a feather broke through, the soft flesh of her back. With time the feathers… became a wing, never did she think a wing would become two, She knew not how to fly, but neither was she grounded,...
Strength and Fearlessness of the Sityar Family
Introduction Prior to this class I had very limited knowledge about what immigration was and the logistics. Over the course to the semester our class has deep dived into the definition of immigration and have examined experiences of those who have an immigration...
From Huehuetenango, Guatemala to the United States: A Dangerous Yet Insightful Experience
When I was informed we would be required to conduct an interview with an immigrant for this course, I immediately recognized my privilege of having most of my family members fall under this category.As someone who can identify as a second generation, I’ve always...
From Gambia to the United States
SUMMARY For this interview, I interviewed my best friend, Omadou Sallah. Like many immigrants, he came to the United States in seek of a better life. His family came from Gambia, a West African Country. It is small and undeveloped country, especially compared to...
From Turkey to the U.S
Introduction For this project, I had the privilege of being able to interview Irem Sen, a senior at Virginia Tech University. I met Irem through a mutual friend and was able to conduct this interview over Zoom. She shares her story of what it was like to immigrate...
New beginnings: Tales of an immigration experience
Introduction Before taking this course, my understanding of immigration was limited, but I have gained a better understanding while completing this assignment. I interviewed my family friend Mohammad Zayed. The reason I thought of and interviewed Mohammad Zayed was...
Belarus to the Burg
INTRODUCTION For my interview, I sat down with my coworker Angelina Kharovsky to talk about her experience as an immigrant to America. Angelina was born in Belarus in the late 90s and lived in the city of Gomel with her family until she was 7 years old. Belarus was...
The Incredible Flavio
My interview was conducted via zoom and has a family relation to a fellow colleague here at James Madison University. The interviewee introduced himself as Flavio Olivera and migrated to the United States from Portugal from a young age. With prior knowledge of his...
The Journey From Portugal to The United States
Interview Analysis Introduction I decided to enroll in this class because learning about immigration piqued my interest due to my lack of knowledge in the subject. Neither side of my family have relatives that immigrated to the United States that are still...
Serendipitous Immigration: Being A Military Spouse
Intro As an American-born child to immigrant parents, I’ve long been fascinated in the social aspects and patterns that exist for second-generation immigrants. Taking a class on the sociology of immigration has benefitted my own understanding of who I am, but also...
Planes, Cars, Highways, Home
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...
From Eritrea to the United States
Introduction On November 22nd, 2023, at approximately 7:30pm eastern time I had the honor and privilege to interview my grandmother about her immigration process into the United States. My grandmother’s full name is Alganesh Weigel, and she immigrated from Asmara...
From Iran to America
Introduction Ali Nazemi’s migration journey from Tehran, Iran, to the United States unfolds as a compelling story of resilience, hope, and the pursuit of a better life. His story serves as a testament to the broader immigrant experience, capturing the intricacies...
From Korea to Virginia
The United States is known as a nation of immigrants with millions of people migrating to the country every year. Many of these migrants share a similar story of coming for one opportunity or another, whether economic or otherwise. Very few have as unique a story...
Bright Beaches to Sunny Suburbs
Introduction and Methods For this project, I interviewed Catalina Fernandez, a senior at Virginia Polytechnic University from Puerto Rico. Catalina migrated from Puerto Rico to Northern Virginia. I met Catalina when entering middle school, and ...
From Philippines to the U.S.
Introduction Upon taking this class, I really had no prior knowledge on immigration, but had an interest in learning more about it. From learning about the integration of immigrants, about concepts such as “Latinization” and “Daughter Communities,” and about...
Germany to the United States an Immigrant Journey
Introduction I’ve always found immigration to be an incredibly interesting subject, the idea of understanding why people move and how it affects them though felt a bit out of reach in terms of my understanding. However, when I found this class, Sociology of...