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Alejandra Gonzalez
Dance & Culture: Life History Interview and Reflection
Professor Brain
March, 13, 2016
Life Time History Interview
Had the wonderful opportunity to interview one of my classmates who is an international
student at Salt Lake Community College. He has lived here for the past six years and told me
about his experience coming to a whole new culture and environment. During the entire
interview I asked him all of the questions that are going to the below this paragraph to get a
different perspective and to get my feet into his shoes for a few minutes. He doesnt want me to
share his full name, but he has allowed me to share the name we all call him in class which is
Peter. Peter has come from China to study in the United States and my main focus for this
interview is to figure out what international students feel and go through when changing into a
different culture. I want to focus on this issue or topic because we have plenty international
students here at Salt Lake Community College and we dont understand the struggles they go
through.
Peter says that he tried to apply to universities there, but since it is very high populated
the schools only take the high scoring students. It is very hard to gain a good education there in
China and it is required for all men to in-roll into the army and gives time of service. His family
and he didnt want to go through the process of going through the military and his mother
couldnt even think about what could happen to him, so they decided to so send peter as an

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international student. When he got here to the Salt Lake City, he didnt know where he was,
where thing were located or how things even work because everything was so new to him. He
didnt even know what he wanted to study, after a few semesters he realized that he really liked
numbers and wanted to be become a private accounted. So he plans on finishing his associate
degree in Salt Lake Community College and then finishing his education up at the University of
Utah.
He feels like International students have a lot disadvantages because they cant
use their tongue to pronouns words as they would want to, sometimes people have to ask serval
times to repeat what we are trying to say and it doesnt feel good. During test or projects its very
hard because we dont understand in introductions and some professors dont care if we
understand or not. I had a professor who graded my grammar a lot which made me get a bad
grade. International students have a lot of disadvantages that others dont see. He dont think that
they as students are unprivileged because they have been welcomed with arms wide open, but
they are treated differently than others that are in the same classroom. When he speaks in front of
the class all classmates look at him as if I was something weird or strange because of my accent.
Sometimes he feels like he doesnt belong here because of the different culture, food, religion
and environment, plus I dont have my family here. I barely knew anyone here when I moved to
Utah.
He doesnt know if he wants to go back to China after graduation, he wants a
better life for him and maybe his future family. The changing n cultures is something very
difficult, but he does miss all of his family members and would want to go back and see them,
but when he went this summer back to China everything was different because people from his
own country looked at him as if something was weird with him; just like American people

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looked at him when he had just arrived to the U.S. It was something strange and its something
that happens to all of the people who move from their country to a new one because I and my
friends from China have talked about it. For example, when I went back to China I opened a
door for a girl. Seen I have lived in the U.S and got use t some of the common customs I forgot
that in China holding the door open for a girl or anyone else is something weird. When I was in
China I never opened the door for anyone and this time I went in the summer and opened the
door for the girl she just went through and looked at me with an evil eye. I think its something
very funny because people get use to or adapt to the environment they are surrounded upon.
This is something he had told me that just really blew my mind.
His religion is very important and is something that has helped him get through hard
times or is just having a bad day. His family and he would pray every hour of the day and here
and that is something people from Utah do. Here there are multiple religions here and its
difficult to understand it, but he haves his own faith and thats all that matters to him. He thinks
that religion should be followed as it is written and if people would follow the word of god the
world wouldnt be as bad as it is now. People wouldnt be so judgmental and would accept
people as they are, they would focus on where you come from, what color of skin you have, or
the culture forms you. International students have the opportunity to see all of the advantages and
disadvantages each country has, but throughout that they lose their own selves.
Reflection
Even though my interview was very short because Peter had other things to do, I got a lot of
information that I never knew I could hold from someone from another country. I now know that
it is not easy for people to translate from one thing to another in a blind of an eye. Peter is older

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than me and with much more experience, but after having this interview he has given me more
motivation to accomplish me goals in life. He has it much harder than me because he doesnt
understand or speak the English language as much, but that is not stopping him from getting his
goal to become a better person and that to me is very moving and gives people motivations. Even
though it was hard to understand the stories he was trying to get across, we took the time and
calmness to figure out what he was trying to say. After hearing that story about him opening the
door for a young girl in China was something that caught my eye because here in the U.S its
something all men usually do because its being a gentlemen thats in our culture and in our
norms. Holding a door in China is something seen down upon and that was something I didnt
know before; seeing all of the differences we have is mind changing in many perspectives
Peter also mentioned that coming from China and transforming into to the U.S was very hard and
is still in the process, but he had never felt like it is unprivileged. He says that he is more than
privileged because he got the opportunity to come into this country to become a better person
and gain a better education. I really enjoyed seeing that from him because that shows me that
there are people who are grateful of what they are given and even if they are struggle the look
forward and never give up. There are people all over the world who have all of the doors open
and have the possibility to better themselves, but prefer taking the easy way out and decide to do
bad things and give up on life, unlike Peter who has left his home and transition to a completely
different culture is trying to get a better life. Peters and my culture are very different, but we
have one thing in common, that we never give up and we keep on trying if we fall over and over
again. I am grad that I have the opportunity to interview him because he is such a wonderful
person to meet and I would have never known about his culture if I didnt take to him.

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People who see others that come from a different culture as aliens and unwanted people
should first take the opportunity to talk to them and get to know them before even speaking
badly about them. People laugh and judge people like Peter and I because we have different
appearances, but they dont take the opportunity to listen to the story our history hold, the
struggles we have come upon and all of the other mountains we are going to cross just to get to
where we want to be. Humans now I days just walk with their heads dont now knowing whats
occurring around them; they dont see the hurt someone is going through because of culture
differences, all they do is judge and not care. Students such as myself should take the opportunity
like this one and understand what others from another culture has gone through and is doing to
make this world a better place because and the end of the story we are all humans who want the
best for our families and future. We should all love and support each other and not prevent
people from accomplishing their goals, we are all privileged because we all hold a heart and a
mind who speaks and feels.