"Lucky Khambounheuang was born in America to Laotian immigrants.
"I have a limited conversational level of communicating with my parents...that language barrier really doesn't allow me to bridge these discussions between my parents."
"They tend to be more conservative for instance, whereas I've been more immersed in a more progressive community."
"Southeast Asians don't usually go to college as much and so I've always been asked what sort of Asian I am."
So what advice does he have for other children of immigrants?
"I think my advise is that when you enter a new space and community to really focus on both sides of your identity, and that is interpersonal identity and interrelation identity." "Try not to get to caught up on fitting in, but be more so just molding your true self in different settings and always stay true to what you customs and culture are, what you truly value." |
Manzi Ngaiza was born in America, his mother is from Uganda and his father is from Tanzania. He moved to Kenya at the age of eight and then moved back to the United States about a year and a half before starting college.
"I differed from the other kids and did not fully understand why or how."
"I feel like on this scale of how African am I, how American am I?"
"I have this sort of combination, sort of this amalgamation of both. Like you connect the cultures of both and then combine them."
"I differed from the other kids and did not fully understand why or how."
"I feel like on this scale of how African am I, how American am I?"
"I have this sort of combination, sort of this amalgamation of both. Like you connect the cultures of both and then combine them."
What's Manzi's advice?
"Don't let yourself be patronized because that is not who you are, that is not what your are and it belittles your culture. You know, just be proud of who and what you are. Don't feel rushed to necessarily figure that out and don't feel rushed to identify with anything because you always have the option to say I don't know."
"Don't let yourself be patronized because that is not who you are, that is not what your are and it belittles your culture. You know, just be proud of who and what you are. Don't feel rushed to necessarily figure that out and don't feel rushed to identify with anything because you always have the option to say I don't know."
Rebeca Leon was born in Venezuela and moved to the United State with her parents three days before her sixth birthday.
"People think that I can't do the things that I know I can do because I'm from somewhere else."
"I can't say that I feel more American now because my entire home life is Venezuela. When I'm at home it's all in Spanish."
"I'm definitely too American to be Venezuelan, and too American to be American."
"People think that I can't do the things that I know I can do because I'm from somewhere else."
"I can't say that I feel more American now because my entire home life is Venezuela. When I'm at home it's all in Spanish."
"I'm definitely too American to be Venezuelan, and too American to be American."
Some advice for you:
"You know what your culture is and you know who you are, but then you have to navigate how that can contradict your heritage...just reconciling that within yourself and just being able to pick and choose, like, which part of the cultures that are in really matter to you
"You know what your culture is and you know who you are, but then you have to navigate how that can contradict your heritage...just reconciling that within yourself and just being able to pick and choose, like, which part of the cultures that are in really matter to you
Cynthia Bunting was born in Canada to Chinese parents and moved to the United States at the age of three.
"My mom used to call me CBC which is Chinese born Canadian, so because it's like CBA Chinese born American."
"Because I speak the language I think that kind of breaks the barrier there between me and the rest of my more Chinese family members."
"My mom used to call me CBC which is Chinese born Canadian, so because it's like CBA Chinese born American."
"Because I speak the language I think that kind of breaks the barrier there between me and the rest of my more Chinese family members."
Alright, so what's Cynthia's advice?
"Just kind of engage in activities and just have an open mind to who your friends are going to be and that your friends might not necessarily be the cultural support"
"I think it's finding your passions and then finding everybody else."
"Just kind of engage in activities and just have an open mind to who your friends are going to be and that your friends might not necessarily be the cultural support"
"I think it's finding your passions and then finding everybody else."
Marcela Sanchez was born in Colombia and immigrated to the United States with her parents at the age of eight.
"I'm pretty sure the kids used to make fun of me, probably because I didn't know how to speak English."
"Leaving home to come to college was a big deal because where I come from you go to college while you are still living at home."
"I'm more liberal ,I guess I can say, than they are and I see this not just with my parents but also with my cousins...Over here you are very open to things and over there people are very closed off sometimes."
"When you come here at a really young age your, whatever county you're from, your accent goes away. So when you go back they call you a gringa and that's something I've actually never liked."
"I'm pretty sure the kids used to make fun of me, probably because I didn't know how to speak English."
"Leaving home to come to college was a big deal because where I come from you go to college while you are still living at home."
"I'm more liberal ,I guess I can say, than they are and I see this not just with my parents but also with my cousins...Over here you are very open to things and over there people are very closed off sometimes."
"When you come here at a really young age your, whatever county you're from, your accent goes away. So when you go back they call you a gringa and that's something I've actually never liked."
Marcela's advice for others:
"Letting go of that fear and realizing that yes, I'm in a new place and this is where I'm going to be and I need to make the most of it."
"Find your niche wherever you are. You are going to find something you love, you are going to find something about the place where you are that you really like and you really appreciate."
"To immerse, it helps I think to immerse yourself in it. I feel like once you start participating in the everyday life in that new country that you are in...you star submerging yourself in that culture....and I think that's how you become part of it."
"Letting go of that fear and realizing that yes, I'm in a new place and this is where I'm going to be and I need to make the most of it."
"Find your niche wherever you are. You are going to find something you love, you are going to find something about the place where you are that you really like and you really appreciate."
"To immerse, it helps I think to immerse yourself in it. I feel like once you start participating in the everyday life in that new country that you are in...you star submerging yourself in that culture....and I think that's how you become part of it."
Marla Rojas was born in Venezuela and moved to the United States with her parents at the age of twelve.
"It was public school, it was mostly Hispanic so it was easier to find these groups. I mean obviously you tend to gravitate towards people that are from your country."
"I really wanted to be part of the American culture, I associated with people that were a little more like that...We still had our friends that spoke Spanish, we still had our families who spoke Spanish."
"Even though I'm Americanized I guess I still feel Hispanic cultural ideas."
"There's still like a pressure to be Hispanic, or like even here there is a pressure to be more American"
"It was public school, it was mostly Hispanic so it was easier to find these groups. I mean obviously you tend to gravitate towards people that are from your country."
"I really wanted to be part of the American culture, I associated with people that were a little more like that...We still had our friends that spoke Spanish, we still had our families who spoke Spanish."
"Even though I'm Americanized I guess I still feel Hispanic cultural ideas."
"There's still like a pressure to be Hispanic, or like even here there is a pressure to be more American"
Marla's advice?
"A good balance between the two...I can hold my identity without being told speaking Spanish is the only way to be Hispanic or like speaking English pulls you away from the culture."
"Staying true to yourself and I think that you know yourself the best."
"A good balance between the two...I can hold my identity without being told speaking Spanish is the only way to be Hispanic or like speaking English pulls you away from the culture."
"Staying true to yourself and I think that you know yourself the best."