Community Profile Interview

Questions for Interview

1. How did they convince you to work in the U.S?

It was another regular afternoon, as I saw my father coming home from work. He had his orange long sleeve shirt on, along with his denim blue jeans and working shoes. He was caring his tool belt and left on a brown chair as he was coming toward the door. I asked him how his day was as he was coming inside the house, and he said “Bien hija, gracias a Dios.” I was glad to hear him say that, and I smiled at him. I was working on a math assignment and noticed my father smile as he was headed to his bedroom. When he came back out, he told me he was proud of me for deciding to continue my education. I then asked him how he was convinced to come here in the Coachella Valley. He sighed and said in Spanish,  “Nobody convinced me. I had to go. It was an obligation, a necessity.”

2. What were your first thoughts on the idea?

I immediately understood why he said that. He grabbed the chair next to me, and sat down. He then said, still speaking to me in Spanish,“You know, I was honestly scared the first time I came here. I didn't know what to expect once I would get to the other side of the border.” I looked at him, ready to hear him tell me how he got here. I stopped working on my last question and decided to close my notebook. I knew he was about to tell me his story.

3. What was the most challenging thing that occurred to you?

At this point I was all ears, ready to hear his story. That was not the case, though. He was already getting up from his chair, until I asked him the most difficult thing that occurred to him here. He sat back down, and said  “One of the most challenging things for me was understanding and speaking Spanish. I understood more than I could speak.” He then started laughing, which startled me.

4. How did you learn to speak and understand Spanish?

I asked him, why he was laughing. He stopped laughing and said, “I learned to speak Spanish, by listening to the Spanish speaking Mexicans around me at work and where I was living. Of course, I still don't know how to speak Spanish correctly, but I can speak enough of it to have a conversation with someone.” I then said, “What is so funny about that?” He said he had just realized how he learned to speak Spanish. I just giggled as he said that.

5. How did you face with discrimination?

I wanted to ask him a more serious question, but I felt that it would change the atmosphere of this conversation. I asked anyway. I asked him how he faced discrimination. As I asked him this question, I noticed how his face expression changed to a more serious one. For a moment, I was worried. He then smiled and said, “I didn't really do anything about it. All I thought about was my family and the future that I had planned for them and myself.” I was surprised when he answered the question with a smile, but at the same time, I was glad that it wasn’t a very acquired question for him to answer.

6. Did you ever feel unworthy? Why or why not?

At this point, I thought he was done answering my question. I was wrong. He got up from the chair, and headed towards the window. The sun was about to go down. He started talking, only this time; he talk to me in the Purepecha language and said,“I'm not going to lie. I did feel like I wasn't going to make anything for myself sometimes. When I was young I would sometimes cry myself to sleep. I missed my parents back home. It was really hard for me to get used to so much change, but I knew that this was all for the best deep inside.” and smiled. The last part made me realize even more, how much my dad went through. It was something that I will always keep in mind. It reassured me that anything really is possible to accomplish.