I had the privilege of interviewing my good friend, AJ Soriano, an English Major from Skyline College, residing in Daly City California. Coming from a family of five and the only boy from his siblings, AJ embodies the true meaning of family responsibility and loyalty. Through the different segments of this interview, he will be sharing his stories from his childhood to his experience assimilating in the United States as an immigrant.
Welcome to my blog. This blog contains five very interesting and informational videos of Norma Labrador, a proud Filipina of Daly City, describing her life starting out in the Philippines and immigrating here to the United States. Enjoy watching!
Table of Contents
1. Part I "Family Background"
2. Part II "Leaving the Philippines"
3. Part III "Settling in the U.S."
4. Part IV "Being Filipino in the U.S."
5. Part V "Reflections"
1. PART I "FAMILY BACKGROUND"
In this video, Norma Labrador speaks about the background of herself, her family, and her life in the Philippines before coming to America.
2. PART II "LEAVING THE PHILIPPINES"
In this video, Norma speaks about her thoughts about leaving the Philippines and also her feelings about leaving home for a new home.
3. PART III "SETTLING IN THE U.S."
Here, Norma speaks about her experience arriving and living in the United States for the first time. She speaks about her multiple jobs, her children arriving, and other topics pertaining to settling in America.
4. PART IV "BEING FILIPINO IN THE U.S."
In this video, Norma speaks about her experience being Filipino in another country and how it effected her and her lifestyle.
5. PART V "REFLECTIONS"
Here, Norma reflects upon her life starting from the Philippines all the way through her life living in the United States. She gives us an insight of how her moving and leaving effected her.
Brief Description Of my Interviewer:
Doing this interview I found a lot of information about my mom that I never expected. How growing up she didn't really have much, they were poor they had to work at a very young age, but coming to America really change their life. She found out the hardships they had to go through and over came it with a lot of dedication and hard work.
I interviewed a woman by the name of Christina Ridad. She has been living in the United States since 1960's and has accomplished much since then. Mrs. Ridad migrated from the Philippines to the United States at a young age for a better life due to the lack of resources and opportunities in her homeland. Struggle is a common term that most immigrants can relate to. It is something that drives people to push their own limits and persevere in order to live successful lives. In terms of being successful, success has several meanings. People in our society may define success by having a lot of money and owning fancy things. On the other hand, for immigrants like my interviewee, she views success as something that is intangible and must be worked for. Like most immigrants Benito Vergara interviewed, my interviewee shares the same experience. Contrarily, the perception and attitude towards achieving economic and material success greatly differ between them.
Segment 1 (Life in the Philippines)
According to Christina Ridad, life in the Philippines was not easy. In Illocos Norte, Philippines; where she is from, there is more agricultural land. Being unable to find work, other than farming or housekeeping, Mrs. Ridad felt the need to leave her home in hopes of finding something better.
Segment 2 (Leaving the Philippines)
After a few months of living in the United States, she found a job fairly quick that required her to do simple tasks. Within the first year of living in the United States, Mrs. Ridad was able to obtain a job and live sufficiently as she hoped for.
Segment 3 (Homesickness)
By the time Mrs. Ridad arrived to the United States, the routine she left from the Philippines such as feeding her chicken and the lifestyle was the most thing she missed the most. She mentioned about not wanting to live in the Philippines anymore but to just to visit and have a vacation since all of her relatives and families are all in the U.S.
Segment 4 (Being Successful)
The way Ms. Ridad expressed the way she became successful was based on her patience and willpower to keep on learning. With all that she had accomplished, Ms. Ridad said “God came along and gave me the strength to achieve this success, everything that I gained is a blessing and that is my success” (Ridad). Though everyone has a different way of becoming successful, the insight I gained from Ms. Ridad is that patience and persistence will lead you to become successful."If you like to work, there is work" (Ridad) Mrs. Ridad stated.
“If
given an opportunity, grab it and take it, because if not, then you’ll fall
behind.”
Miguel Ignacio with his college sweetheart, Marivic Ignacio.
The person that I interviewed is my father. His pursuit of keeping his family together drove
him to many different experiences and opportunities. He was given the chance to
migrate to the United States in order to keep the family together, which opened
many doors for the next generations. As a result of leaving the Philippines, he realized that his
parents’ decision to bring him to the United States would benefit mostly his
own family. Now he understands and acknowledges his parents for migrating in
the first place. My father's family is one that has never been separated ever
since they came to the United States.
Table of Contents
I. Living in the Philippines
II. Leaving the Philippines and Arriving in the U.S.
III. Settling in the U.S.
IV. Living in the United States
V. Reflections
I. Living in the Philippines
Miguel with his family back in the Philippines
Miguel Ignacio explains how his life in the Philippines was like and how he grew up.
II. Leaving the Philippines and Arriving in the U.S.
Miguel expresses his feelings upon leaving the Philippines and how he was able to be brought to the United States by his two older sisters.
III. Settling in the U.S.
Miguel after a week of arriving in the U.S.
Miguel talks about how life was settling in the United States and the comparison between America to the Philippines.
IV. Living in the United States
Miguel reveals how he was treated by other Filipinos in the United States and how he was able to grow a family which might've been harder in the Philippines.
V. Reflections
During this last part of the interview, Miguel concludes with the lessons he's learned throughout all of his experiences living in the Philippines, leaving the Philippines, and having to live in a new country.
Miguel with his family of seven.
"Try to make something of where you are, whether you're here or in the Philippines, and you'll be a better person."
