Academic Web Pages
Latest posts by Academic Web Pages (see all)

    Our Moving Stories: Episode 3 — Ari

    Ari’s story allows us to glean a bit of what it is like to enter school as an early adolescent. Having been a strong college bound pupil in Mexico, she speaks of being a “terrified student” as she enters school in Texas. Her inability to speak English and the consistent misperceptions and underestimations of her abilities by her teachers and mis-directions from counselors are undermining but somehow she is able to not internalize those messages. She exemplifies determination and persistence against all odd as she secures graduate admission into numerous top programs across the country in spite of her documentation status. But her story is much more than the desire to make it for her own benefit. Through her efforts, she is determined to blaze the way and help others like her siblings, peers, and so many others who dream and strive to join the American tapestry.

    Academic Web Pages
    Latest posts by Academic Web Pages (see all)

      Our Moving Stories: Episode 4 — Vian

      Vian’s interview provides us a window into the childhood and young adult experience of the children of Vietnamese refugees. From her, we gain insight into the essential role of a vibrant, thriving, and loving ethnic community in solidifying a strong foundation for bi-cultural ethnic identity and providing a sense of belonging. While familiar foods are (in her words) the “star of the show”– it is the relationships and intergenerational sharing of narratives that cultivate bonds.

      Two specific themes we hear in Vian’s interview run true in the lives of many other children of immigrants. One is a struggle to maintain full bilingual fluency. She sees it as essential to communicate with the older generation as well as a vehicle for cultivating inter-ethnic solidarity. At the same time, full fluency is elusive and is tied to an undercurrent of inadequacy in the parental native language. Another theme is that of social responsibility. Vian, like many other children of immigrants, consider their victories as not their own but rather that of their parents and grandparents. They feel a sense of gratitude and appreciation for the possibilities afforded to them by the sacrifices of their parents and often they find themselves drawn to careers where they take a role of helping others and paying it forward.

      Academic Web Pages
      Latest posts by Academic Web Pages (see all)

        Our Moving Stories: Episode 2 — Bruno

        Listening to Bruno’s story, we gain insight into what initial entry into the new land feels like from a child’s perspective. We hear of missing extended family, the downward mobility in living circumstances, the inability to communicate, and so much more. We hear how, for Bruno, school becomes a refuge as he begins to master the new language and realizes that he is a highly capable student in no small part because he works 20 times harder than everyone else. Despite the losses and costs, we also hear laughter and the pleasure of finding community and small moments of joy.

        Academic Web Pages
        Latest posts by Academic Web Pages (see all)

          Our Moving Stories: Episode 1 — Nancy

          In listening to Nancy’s voyage, several points jump out. In her case, as in all immigrant children’s, the decision to migrate is not theirs—they are caught in the wake of adult decisions who in turn have made theirs in most cases with little sense of the alternative. Despite clear talent and exceptional drive, with no legal pathways of entry available, Nancy’s entire life voyage since then, has been one of accommodation to these realities in ways that few of us can imagine. While she has accomplished a great deal, it has come at great cost of a decade of being cut off from her family and long periods of self-doubt and sense of exclusion that began from very early social interactions in childhood with peers — magnified immensely by our policies. Nancy is triumphant in her success but at what cost to herself and at what loss to the society that she joined as a toddler?

          Academic Web Pages
          Latest posts by Academic Web Pages (see all)

            Our Moving Stories: Trailer

            In this brief introduction to the Moving Stories Podcast we discuss both the challenges encountered and resiliencies demonstrated as part of the immigrant origin child and youth experience. In this first season of Moving Stories, the focus will be on student led conversations about these experiences.

            Butterfly drawing by Sharoll Fernandez Siñani (Instagram: @osnatsinani)
            Photography by Lendel Marshall (Instagram: @lendelmarshall)
            Music by Josue Sánchez