Kochi Rashid Interview, History 150 Spring 2017, Conducted by Travis St. John, March 27, 2017
A. Overview of interview process
This interview was conducted over the phone, and I used an app to record the call. I did not have to edit the recording at all as we were both prepared very well. We both agreed on a time that worked for us and Kochi was ready for all the questions. I used a study room which assured that there was no other noise.
B. Brief Biography
Kochi was born in Bangladesh in 1977. He was part of a large family that immigrated to the United States in 1994 after a scary incident that involved the kidnapping of his father by soldiers. The decision to move to the United States was made by his parents and Kochi was not happy about about moving. After graduating high school in Bangladesh, he was forced to go through all 4 years of high school again in the United States. Obviously having to go through the language barrier while doing that. Kochi attended college at Old Dominion University and currently works as a mechanical engineer and a part time DJ. He married Bethany Atkins in 2008, and they live in Woodbridge Virginia with their 2 dogs.
C. Paragraph of Research
Immigration has been a large part of the United States for centuries and has defined us as a country. In the 1990’s, the United States saw the immigration population rise by more than 11 million people. Bangladesh is less well known than its brother India, but the 2 countries are very similar as Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and poverty is widespread throughout the nation. Although Bangladesh is seen as a mostly peaceful country, Islamist extremism has increased in the past years. The United States is a popular immigration destination for Bengalis as there is around 500,000 of them currently living in the United States. Kochi’s father was taken by Iraqi soldiers while he was working in Kuwait. During the First Gulf War hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers invaded Kuwait and committed crimes against the citizens of Kuwait, Kochi’s father was one of these people and luckily he wasn’t harmed. The story of how Bangladesh came to be a country is interesting, India gained independence from Britain in 1947. Later in 1971 when East Pakistan and West Pakistan went to war, East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh War of Independence.” Bangladesh War of Independence – New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.
“First Gulf War.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.
“Immigration Data & Statistics.” Immigration Data & Statistics | Homeland Security. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
Tripathi, Sanjeev. “Illegal Immigration From Bangladesh to India: Toward a Comprehensive Solution.” Carnegie India. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.
D. Interview Transcript, [KR:] is for Kochi and [TS:] is myself
TS: So what made you leave your home country?
KR: Well my parents made the decision to come to the states, my dad was working in Kuwait until he got kicked out by Iraqi soldiers when they invaded Kuwait. He was picked up by the Iraqi soldiers on his way to work that morning and dropped off to the Jordan border, and then later he was deported to Bangladesh from there after 3 months from living in a refugee camp. When he got back to Bangladesh , uhh he was working as an architect in Kuwait for the government and their buildings and facilities, when he got back to Bangladesh or got deported to Bangladesh he couldn’t find a job fit for him or a job he wanted to do. And my mom had a sponsor by my uncle my mom’s brother who has been living there for over 60 years he was a doctor. So he sponsored for my mom and my parents actually never thought about using it until the situation with my dad getting back to Bangladesh and not having a position or work that he liked. My parents decided to use the sponsor and come to the states. So that’s pretty much it the main reason, what we know there in Bangladesh America is a great country lots of opportunities and good life you know, and my parents thought it would be a better choice to give it a shot for out future so that’s what they decided to do. And I was actually against it I was only 16 at the time and didn’t want to move. I didn’t know anything about America at the time, for me to decide to go to a country that I didn’t know.
TS: Can you describe the process of adapting to a new culture?
KR: Yeah I am from Bangladesh coming to the States I didn’t know anything about it just like I said a while ago I didn’t know much about it, but it was kind of hard for me because my english wasn’t so well. I only knew how to read and write, never spoken english to another person or like having a conversation in english so I had the language barrier. So it was difficult for me to have conversation and make friends when I moved here. I graduated from high school in Bangladesh right before I moved here I was about to go to college in Bangladesh but since we moved here and also because my english was my second language I had to go back to high school and take ECL classes english as a second language where I felt comfortable because there are students like me at that time from different areas different backgrounds all learning english. So that was kind of comfortable for me to you know having conversation in english, in high school I couldn’t make any friends I felt like I did not fit it and felt that I couldn’t speak english very well kind of shy and didn’t approach with confidence. But later that helped me out with the ECL classes making friends from different countries and that helped me out to a lot of my confidence and make friends from high school there. It’s a variety of culture that I learned so I don’t really know the whole process how it happened one thing lead to another I think.
TS: You kind of talked about it earlier but why was the US your choice in destination?
KR: Like I said my parents decided to mover there to the states it wasn’t my idea. Like I said my dad was working in Kuwait and got kicked out and came back to Bangladesh. Like I said before mainly my parents decided for a better life choices and better opportunities.
TS: What kind of culture did you bring from your home country?
KR: That’s interesting, food actually is the first thing my mom is a great great cook. I don’t know if you tried my mom’s cooking but she’s a great cook. She made a great impression bringing her cooking ability. And there’s not much that I brought I mean I played cricket in Bangladesh and soccer and when I moved here the sports weren’t that popular at the time. So I tried to play cricket or soccer but that wasn’t feasible there not many people showed interest. So I didn’t bring much of my culture. I have to give my mom the credit for that.
TS: Was the US everything you expected it to be?
KR: No not really. When I was in Bangladesh I was told that America was a great country where you could make money you know whatever you want. The reason people felt that way was because people that came here don’t usually work a decent job. For example working as a dish washer making the money and go back so there is sort of people lying making up the stories that weren’t true so people had the impression that America was the country of money. There was an expression saying you can just go there and shake a tree and money will fall. Before I moved to the states that was the idea that was floating around. But when I came to the states it was total opposite you have to work hard to get what you want no body is gonna give you anything for free. Like I said it was kind of difficult for me for my language barrier I couldn’t make friends. There’s certain experiences I had and still kind of do because of my skin color being brown so that was a little difficult for me to accept I didn’t experience that growing up in Bangladesh. They have an issue with other status but not with the skin color. So that was kind of difficult for me but everything else I love about this country the quality of life is excellent. Like I said if you work hard you make it, it’s just a matter of what you do and how long you do it. I mean I have worked hard many many jobs coming to the states my parents were poor didn’t have much money so we all had to work while in high school. I had to write a paper before going to school I had to write a paper after I came back from school. And during the summer time I didn’t have school to go to except for ECL classes. I had time to work more jobs, believe it or not I worked at 7/11, at a Chinese restaurant washing dishes. At the beginning it was tough for me now I guess I recognize this is my country and I love everything about it, well almost everything.
TS: What was the process like to become a citizen here?
KR: I don’t know much about the process actually. Got a sponsor and get the citizenship because my dad was all about it and didn’t really explain to me. So I don’t know how the process was for us. All I remember was I had to study for the citizenship test to get a green card and that was about 5 years after we moved to the states.
TS: You talked a little bit about taking classes, how was it over coming the language barrier?
KR: The ECL classes were number 1 helpful for me because I felt comfortable being around somebody who has similar problems and we spoke english to understand each other so we tried to have conversation. So that was a big one for me to get over my shyness to have conversation with somebody else. And also I watched television because everything was in english so that was the second biggest thing to help me out with my language to speak and have conversation.
TS: What’s one thing about the US culture that you would change?
KR: I don’t really know about that to me this country is a country of immigrants and it’s versatile everything is from different backgrounds so it’s kind of difficult for me to pinpoint what is the american culture. For me being from another country I didn’t grow up here obviously so that’s huge. It’s kind of difficult for me to say what the American culture is. The only thing I can say is if I had to change anything it would be to have everybody to treat everybody like that want to be treated no matter the skin color the size look status religion. Other than that there’s nothing I would change.
TS: Is there anything else you want to say?
KR: No not if you don’t have any questions for me.
TS: Awesome thanks so much for doing this!
Conclusion: I think the interview went pretty well. I think it could have flowed a little better but that’s hard to prepare for. Some questions got answered before I got to ask them which could have impacted the flow. I think I would’ve recorded the interview differently because I had trouble uploading it to this site from my phone.