Recently, I conducted two interviews involving my grandmother and my mother. These interviews took place at my home in Los Angeles. Due to certain conditions, I had to contact my grandmother over the phone with the help of my mother to translate for me because I am unable to speak Spanish fluently. When I interviewed my mother I conducted the interview in my living room while my father was also in the room listening. While doing both interviews I took notes of what was said by each participant, and some quotes that I felt stuck out to me I also took note of.
On the other hand, for my research portion of the project I decided to look more into the background and history of Mexican immigrants. What inspired me to do this research was a photograph of my grandmother from several years ago. My grandmother's full name is Maria Munoz and she is currently 68 years old. She first migrated to the United States when she was 18 along with my grandfather in the hopes of having a better life. My grandmother is originally from Jerez Zacatecas in Mexico. At the moment, she is currently living in Jerez Zacatecas with my grandfather, but all her children still live in the U.S. In my research I decided to look up several different topics regarding immigrant parents and families.
For instance, the first article I came across spoke of family life for children of immigrants. Some interesting conclusions that I was able to make based on this article was how important it can be for children to have both their immigrant parents present in order to positively impact their lives. One quote in specific that justifies the conclusion I was able to make is the following; "A significant finding in this regard is that children of immigrants are more likely to live in two-parent families than their co-ethnic counterparts who have native-born parents. Not only do two parent families fare better economically than single-parent families, but also children living with both biological parents are less likely to experience a range of cognitive, emotional, and social problems that have long-term consequences for their well-being" (Landale 45). Due to the quote mentioned previously, I began to consider the idea of interviewing my mother who is a daughter of immigrant parents. I was extremely curious about the effect that a two parent household has on a child growing up with these certain struggles. Another reason for me questioning my mother, was because in the past she has always told me many stories of her childhood and in her eyes she seemed to have an almost perfect life despite any financial struggles and etc. I know from stories from my mother in the past, she mentioned how often her family would move schools and apartments, which I feel probably had to do with her financial situation. My mom has also previously told me how she and her siblings helped to contribute to the family as they got older by working jobs and paying bills for their parents. This in particular revealed to me that it was very likely that they struggled quite a bit. After interviewing my mother, I was able to get a better understanding of why she felt so fondly of her childhood. One question in particular that I asked was "How do you think having two parents present all your life made your childhood better?", and as expected, she answered by saying the following: "I think it just keeps you more grounded and you have more support when you have both parents present in your life." Which led to me thinking about all the children who unfortunately may not be in the same position and are sometimes separated from their parents due to legal status or financial issues.
Furthermore, another article that I came across included discussions about acculturation and the struggles that may come with it. One quote from the article in particular that stood out to me was the following; " Acculturation is a vitally important process to consider when discussing both life satisfaction and resilience among Latinos in the United States. Historically, it has been hypothesized that the process of acculturation is stressful and may negatively impact mental health because it forces an individual to negotiate two potentially conflicting identities (Stonequist, 1935) and integrate into a society that can be hostile to minorities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001)" (Marsigilia 2). This topic in particular I mentioned in one of my questions which was "How did the american culture affect your culture?". My grandmothers response made me rather proud since she mentioned how she never had the desire to lose her culture, because she loves it very much. Although at times she mentioned how she struggled to be understood, it still never made her feel pressured to try to conform to the norms of the United States. Along with the question about culture, I also asked a bit about her experience with language specifically learning or attempting to speak English. She expressed how at times it did make it difficult to communicate in times that it was important for her to express her opinions or concerns.
In conclusion, I gained a lot of insight into the life of an immigrant family and it has led me to do further research into a city in Mexico which is the one my grandmother lives in. The reason I feel like doing this research is because my grandmother expressed how she found living in Mexico was less hectic, so I would like to research her hometown to gain insight on how it may be there.
