I chose my father as my last interviewee due to the fact that he is the person I admire the most, and without him I wouldn’t be where I am today. My dad did his first two undergraduate years in Assumption College. Earlier during the day I had already told my father that I was going to interview him so I called him and he anxiously picked up the phone and said, “Hello my princess. Are you out of the library yet? It’s late, you should not walk alone late at night.”
After I assured my dad that I was okay, he said, “So tell me, what do you need to know?” I then asked my father why he decided to study in the United States. After careful thinking and a deep breath he told me that he wanted to study in the United States because he wanted a change of scenery, he wanted to mature, and acquire life experience. I then asked him if he experienced any differences in culture like I was. He laughed and said, “I literally experienced all of the differences in culture that you are currently experiencing. That’s why I find it funny every time you tell me you are cold, or you don’t like having dinner at six because it’s too early. Women were also very liberal. Also, during my time in the United States, the Puerto Ricans at my university where very different from me, which created a bad stereotype.” While listening to my father say this I remembered my college application process in which he was very careful and did not let my apply to any universities that had a high rate of Puerto Ricans, because that meant that they probably had already created a negative stereotype.” Then I asked my father if he was ever homesick, and his answer did not surprise me. He said, “Of course I wasn’t, you and I are very similar in that aspect. I was only homesick for a few rare moments.” I then asked my father a question I already knew the answer to, due to the fact that he had told me the story before. I asked him, “Dad, did Americans discriminate against you for being Puerto Rican?” My father then replied by telling me that on his last day of college his roommate confessed that on the first day of freshman year, while my dad went to eat with his family, his roommate looked through his bags to see if he had any knives. Since I am currently having trouble balancing my social life with my studies, I asked my father how he organized his. He gave me an answer that I think he expected me to follow. He said, “I went out on Thursdays, but that was after I had everything organized." |
He then said, “So, the most important thing is the weather. That is what is most different. While in PR the sun sets at 7p.m, during winter in Wooster, the sunset at 4p.m. The weather is very different and much colder than Puerto Rico.”
My dad came back to Puerto Rico after his sophomore year. So I asked him why he came back. My dad answered, “First of all, it was too cold in Wooster. I also came to help out with my younger brother who was rebelling, and due to economic issues that my father was having when he changed from one law office to the other. I also didn’t like assumption at all and wanted to transfer to Boston College.” Then a question popped into my head that I had never before asked my father. I asked him, “Dad, why did you choose Assumption College?” He responded by saying that he was 17, so he was very young, and two sisters of a good friend were studying there, so he felt protected there.” After finishing Law School in Puerto Rico, my dad got a master degree in labor law from the Georgetown Law Center. After I asked him how that went, he said, “I would return to Georgetown because it was a very good experience.” My dad then started saying things that came to mind, “Assumption has less than 1,500 students, so it was very small. We couldn’t drink outside, we only drank in the dorms of upperclassmen who gave us beer.” My dad then sounded cheerful when he recalled this, “Wooster was a city full of handicaps, so it was depressing, but it was also known as the city of concerts. I saw Van Halen and John Cougar.” After my dad finished answering my questions I felt inspired and motivated to organize myself and accomplish my goals in the same way he did. My dad then started telling me that I should call my brother, because he misses me, and after I promised I would, my dad said, “Well, it’s late. Go to sleep, I love you. Talk to you tomorrow.” I said goodnight and hung up the phone. I love my dad, and this conversation with him gave me new insight ton his difficulties while in college. |