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Jamie Poma
Edu 280
7 November 2014
Immigrant Interview
I had the opportunity to interview a friend of mine Jan Arduini. I sent out a
Facebook status with the need for an immigrant interview. Its amazing how many of my
friends are actually immigrants or spouses of friends and I never had a clue. Its nice to
know how much diversity and culture there is here in America. My friend Jan shared her
experience with me in depth.
Jan was born in Carmarthen, Wales. Her mother was English and father Welsh.
She was opted out of the Welsh language class by her mother and attended an English
speaking school in Carmarthen. She spent a memorable time with her grandparents on
a small dairy farm in Wales. The farm was located on a beautiful countryside far from
town. She recalls the farm having 20 cows, chickens and also a well kept vegetable
garden.
Jans parents wanted to create a better life for her and her family. Jans family first
moved to Canada. My father went ahead of the rest of the family, got a job and rented a
home in Toronto, Canada. Jans family was no larger than her parents and her younger

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brother. Her parents decided to leave Wales due to few job opportunities. The housing in
South Wales was also fairly limited.
Jan was a child when they decided to leave Wales, she goes on to explain that
her entire family had green cards. The renewal process was easy and once a year she
and her family had to register at the post office until the law changed at some point in
the late sixties. Jans father felt discriminated against during employment search for not
being a citizen so he and his wife became citizens in the early seventies. Jan became a
citizen in 1982. She explains the process as being fairly simple. The application was
$50, later she received a notice in the mail to visit city hall. She then sat in a waiting
room with other applicants who had been through the process before. I remember
sitting in the waiting room until my name was called. Talking to a couple of Mexican girls
who had come here as infants with their parents. They were worried about whether or
not they would make it. Even though they seemed more American to me than I was,
apparently they were rejected on their last application. I deducted later that there must
have been some quota system on who could be naturalized. When her name was
called she entered a small room where she was asked a few questions. The questions
reflected knowledge of current events and history. She recalls being asked, How many
senators does Illinois have? and Who is the Vice President? She answered the

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questions correctly and then was brought to a room to be sworn in. She was sworn in
collectively with a group of other applicants.
Jan held very little expectations for the U.S. as she was child during the
relocation process, I remember feeling bad to leave my grandparents back in Wales
she went along with her parents as children do. In her early 20s Jan ventured back to
Wales. After an 8 month stay Jan decided to travel back to the U.S.. The job
opportunities and housing were still limited. I decided to come back to the US because
life was too lean over there. still no jobs or appropriate housing.
Jan has expressed how much she loves the United States. She is a local artist
and contributes to our community through various mediums while including youth as
well. I appreciate the freedoms here in the US and wouldnt want to live anywhere else.
I am not blind to all the social injustices but I have been to many other places around the
world and am more comfortable with life in the beautiful land of ours.
I have interviewed a few of my friends for this assignment and most of them have
relocated at a very young age. All of their experiences seem to be along the same path
and the visa process seems to have become more and more complicated as time
passes. Luckily for Jan and others like her citizenship has eliminated much of the
hassle. Another friend of mine from Jamaica has expressed how costly it is to renew a
green card now, $500! This renewal is needed every 10 years. The application has gone

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from $50 to $500 in 20 years. Despite the price of the visa/green card, I have yet to hear
that its not worth it. The freedoms we have in the U.S. are cherished.
Europeans relocated here for many different reasons. In Jans case her family
wanted to create a better life for Jan that involved more opportunity. According to
Manning (2009), Some planned to earn money and return to their home country,
whereas others planned to make the United States their home. (p.145) The latter refers
to Jans case. The U.S. is very much her home and she contributes to our community
consistently through Art and her giving disposition. Manning continues, Some
evidence, however, suggests that immigrants to the United States tend to settle near
their port of entry. (p.146) This evidence does not apply to Jan, Boulder City, Nevada is
a far cry from Canada. As far as learning the language Jan was already accustom to
speaking English. Manning finds this to be true among immigrants from the United
Kingdom, U.s. Census information suggests most learners from Germany and the
United Kingdom have little difficulty with the English language. (p.153) Families expect
youth to establish their own identities, leave the family home, and create their own
families. (Manning 2009, Kitano & Perkins, 2000) (p.152) Jan expressed her need at
the age of 20 to venture back to Wales. She decided on her own to then come back and
her identity is quite unique in general. She is an Artist and evokes inspiration in children
and adults alike by displaying her Art in local galleries. With this quote I will conclude,

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Stereotyping, racism, and discrimination can affect European Americans, just as they
affect people from all cultures. (Manning 2009, p.147) The idea that European
Americans are immune to discrimination is null. I had no clue Jan was from another
country until this very assignment. This assignment alone has taught me that culture
resides with in absolutely everyone! Regardless of how unclear it might be there is a
culture there that we should be open to. Sometimes the culture might not be openly
expressed but its our job as educators to be open minded enough to realize it.