Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Mimi K. Trieu
December 2018
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 2
Abstract
Immigrants have faced many challenges in regards to cultural assimilation. While arriving to a
land of opportunities, they had to leave family members behind in their places of origin.
Language barrier is the universal problem that immigrants face along with financial struggles to
support the family. There is a line of progression for the three sections: Vietnam, Virginia Beach,
and Sweden. Vietnam pushes their students to take many rigorous coursework. They follow the
motto, “More means better.” Virginia Beach City Public Schools has provided assistance with
English for both students and parents from supportive teachers places of worship. Sweden
ensures that every child has equal and equitable access to educational opportunities. Also, all
(ESL) children have to sacrifice their lives for their children to have better educational
opportunities. Due to this sacrifice, the only positive outcome is to depend on their children for a
better future.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 3
Table of Contents
Abstract …………………………………………………………………….. 2
Introduction …………………………………………………………………….. 4
Limitations …………………………………………………………………….. 8
Discussion …………………………………………………………………….. 10
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….. 17
References …………………………………………………………………….. 19
Appendix A …………………………………………………………………….. 23
Appendix B …………………………………………………………………….. 25
Appendix C …………………………………………………………………….. 27
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 4
Mother To Son
Langston Hughes
Imagine a little girl, facing adversity in a place where the dirt roads were littered with
refuse and mechanical parts from the daily motor accidents. This girl, for the first five years of
her life, grew up in Vietnam in a ten-room residence with thirty-five members of her extended
family. They shared a bowl of food, the steam rising from the clumpy rice, the content not
enough to fill everyone’s aching stomachs. The heat, the lack of food, the closed living space all
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 5
provoked emotions, and one family member pushes another down the long staircase. She is left
crying in the shadows cast by the sunlight shafting through the dirty windows.
The impact of this impoverished state still affects the little girl today. At seventeen, she
has literally lost inches from her height due to malnutrition as a toddler, and the scars of harsh
memories pushes her further and further away from that world. The journey to get back on her
feet and climb the metaphoric stairs of life was long and filled with more adversity. It started in
That girl struggled both at school and at home. She was bullied as a child because she did
not speak proficient English. For that same reason, her cousins often excluded her because they
did not kept their native language. Language barrier was the author’s largest obstacle to
overcome. Looks can be deceiving in English. Why, for example do tomb and comb not rhyme?
Also, why does the adjective come before the noun, or why are conjugations even necessary? In
Vietnamese, none of these grammatical rules apply, making the learning even more challenging.
Unfortunately, immigrants learning English do not always receive the help they need, often
facing discrimination and exclusion. The girl still remember the tears she shed because she could
not master English as quickly as she needed. She know that her empathy as well as her English
skills can make the kind of difference that she did not have as a child; therefore, she is willing to
assist other immigrants that have been in her shoes. While immigrants come to the United States
to find a better life, there are many obstacles that adult and child immigrants must face.
Language barriers and cultural assimilation are often much more challenging than expected. A
built-in support system can be offered by VBCPS with a better understanding of the challenges
Literature Review
` The United States is known to comprehend the positive changes in society through
industrialization, urbanization, and most significantly, immigration. During the 1920s, the vast
majority of immigrants came from Europe. Later in 2002, there has been a drastic increase in
immigrants from Latin America and Asia (Massey, 1981). While immigrants primarily come to
the United States to have a better life, according to Waters and Jimenez (2005), immigrants face
challenges through cultural assimilation due to language and education system, socio-economic
issues, and psychological effects that children and adults face (Waters and Jimenez, 2005, p.
105).
Interracial Marriage
Studies has shown that intermarriage is a huge part of assimilation. There is a higher
intermarriage rates with Asians and Latinos with whites. For example, if a child has a native
parent and a non-native parent, that child would have an advantage to the education system
oppose to a child who both has two non-native parents (Waters and Jimenez, 2005).
From the research of Angelini, Casi, and Corazzini (2015), immigrants struggle to
maintain in a new society because of mental health, social stress, and discrimination. Because
immigrants are naive from their new surroundings, they can get into conflict with the natives,
which results in unstable conditions (Angelini, Casi, and Corazzini, 2015). According to the
American Psychological Association, western culture tends to have xenophobia, which is the fear
of foreigner that can also result in discrimination among schools, employment, and
contributing in their community. However, they do not get the opportunity to assimilation due to
majorities being prejudice towards small groups (American Psychological Association, 2018).
The article, Unity in Diversity, contradicts the American Psychological Association and the
research of Angelini, Casi, and Corazzini. The government of Canada and the United States have
assisted immigrants significantly by ensuring technical support, supporting funding and grants,
and accessing policymakers. These activities from the government convey a sense of comfort for
Social-economic Issues
According to the article, Immigration’s Effect on the Economy, there are substantial
amount of immigrants living in the United States. A majority of immigrants do not have access
to education; therefore, they take up many laborious jobs, such as construction and farming.
Furthermore, this produces a conflict within the United States for workers without a college
degrees due to the fact that there are many immigrants taking over limited jobs. However,
companies have been taking advantage of immigrants. Since they have poor communication
skills due to language barrier, companies are paying immigrants insufficient wages in order to
In an article about lonely language learners, English Language Learners (ELL) students
have a difficult time socializing with their peers. The problem was indicated because of the
teaching methods imposed on the education system. The school is taking precious time from
ELL students to make friends because of separate instruction time (Kilman, 2009). Through the
research conducted on English Language Learner, the education system places a negative
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 8
stereotypical label on these students. Although an ELL is fluent in English, the education system
places them in their native language classroom. In addition, they have to constantly take exams
to consistently measure their English skills (Lloyd, 2017). However, Immigrant Children and
Youth c ontradicts the idea that the United States Education System has helped immigrants
achieve their educational goals by sharing international journals, acknowledging the fact that
immigrants have their reasons to migrate, emphasizing new ideas to welcome new foreigners
Educators are passionate to help adult immigrants to assist them assimilate into the
United States cultural norms. In addition, educators are trying to persuade adults that learning
English enables multiculturalism instead of taking their native language away (Ullman, 2010).
Although there has been studies on assimilation of immigrants, these research have been
profoundly on identifying the issues that immigrants face. While many scholars have conducted
experiments to ease immigrants into a new society, immigrants are still struggling to adapt to a
Limitations of Study
The author was born in Vietnam. She went through a 9,000 mile journey to come to the
United States. Because she did not have assistance as a child, she wants to start a project to make
a difference in other people’s life by providing assistance with English to immigrant students and
their parents. While this project is the author’s lifelong passion, there are limitations to her work.
She is only focusing on three countries, which are Vietnam, the United States, and Sweden.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 9
Experience Limitations. Since the author lived in Vietnam for a short period of time,
she did not get the full experience of the Vietnamese Education System; therefore, she must rely
on her Vietnamese students to assist her conduct research. Moreover, gathering sources in
Vietnamese will be a challenge for the author because reading and writing in Vietnamese is
difficult. The author had to go through culturalization as a child. As a result, she had to focus
Location Limitations. After moving to the United States to have a better life, she is not
limited by her English skills, but she is limited by her location. The United States contains a total
of fifty states with localities having jurisdiction over their own public schools. Because the
author lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia her whole life and have not been to any other states, she
can only focus on her experience and knowledge of Virginia Beach City Public Schools. On a
larger scale, the author does not have any knowledge of the education system on a federal level.
Language Limitations. Sweden is approximately 4,200 miles away from the United
States. The author did not have an opportunity to study in Sweden and adapt to its culture. Due to
her stable life in the United States, the author does not plan on living in Sweden in her lifetime;
therefore, she does not speak Swedish, which makes gathering resources difficult. Furthermore,
the author is having a difficult time finding a Swedish translator to help her with her research.
While Sweden is known for its education system, the author does not have personal experience
task. There will be challenges because it is going to be difficult to identify the similarities and
differences between two education systems since they are both different scales in population. By
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 10
only focusing on three countries, the author is limited to the amount of research to conduct. Also,
Discussion
Challenges for immigrants are universal. There are no “crystal stairs” for them to climb,
in fact, trying to climb the stairs to success for immigrants are often flaunt with instramountical
obstacles. According to Tallwood High School ESL teacher Bernadette Parris, she articulates
that ESL students experience culture shock, which is the feeling of discomfort trying to
assimilate into a different culture. Moreover, ESL students are confused because of
acculturation. They have to maintain their own culture but also become part of a different
culture. A primary example of obstacles seen by children immigrant is the education system.
While familiarizing into a different education system, ESL students have a difficult time with
social skills. They are afraid to socialize with native speakers because they are afraid to make
mistakes due to the fact that their pronunciation is not perfect. Since most ESL students are
introverted, they are unable to make friends. It is typical to see native-speaking children perceive
judgements on the new coming immigrants. Prejudice is a concern for all ESL students because
the unwelcoming feeling causes stress, which is detrimental to their health (Parris, 2018).
Parris mentions that parents play a significant role in the lives of ESL students. Because
parents work long hours due to minimum wage, they do not have time to read to their ESL
students. In the beginning of their education, ESL students’ vocabulary are limited because their
literacy rate is low. This could potentially have long-term effects throughout their education;
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 11
therefore, reading is important for school success. Since parents have their own concerns, ESL
students are left on their own to survive a new education system (Parris, 2018).
Any one of these obstacles would be huge for any child to overcome, yet every
immigrant who travels to another country for a better life must overcome them. Furthermore, the
obstacles of ESL students and parents does not get any easier, especially for parents.
Mr. Nguyen’s story is one of misfortune and isolation. As a widower without any
extended family in the United States, Nguyen is left raising two adolescent boys in a foreign
country. This situation has led native-born Americans to be prone to prey on his challenges. He,
like many first generation immigrants who do not have mastery of the language or culture, can
easily be preyed upon in everyday transactions. (See Appendix A for the full interview).
According to Christina Nunez, she highlights the challenges that immigrants encounter
while living in the United States. She emphasizes that there is not enough time in the day among
taking ESL classes, searching for a decent job, and taking care of their children. Nunez verifies
Nguyen’s personal narrative by implying language barrier is the universal problem that all
immigrants face, especially in the workplace because they can easily be taken advantage of.
While Nguyen emphasizes language barriers, Nuñez also articulates about cultural
consider hiking as an activity to bond and know the importance of teamwork, but immigrants
remember hiking as a time they had to flee from their homes. Misinterpretations can be taking
is the dispute between the United States and the Mexican Border. Caitlin Oprysko explains that
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 12
President Donald Trump maliciously tweets, “Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants,
many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries, (Trump as cited in Nuñez,
2018). This quote implies that President Trump is unwilling to let these Mexican immigrants
cross the border by ordering U.S. authorities implement tear gas to those that rush to the border.
He does not provide any evidence to support that Mexican immigrants are “stone cold
criminals.” The tears of women and children continues to rage as they seek for asylum, but they
are prevented from to have a better life because of political debates. Immigration remains a
It may be difficult to truly understand the scope of this problem if only numbers are
focused upon. Highlighting individual stories is equally important when talking about massive
issues. One story of a Mexican immigrant is that of Ms. Beatriz Hayes, a custodian for Tallwood
High School, which illustrates this issue (See Appendix B for the full interview). Hayes, like
others from Mexico, fought her way from the corruption of Mexico, where, in her estimate,
ninety percent of the people in a community would be involved in selling drugs to survive. She
also brought out the reality that the financial opportunity available for hard working immigrants
A political figure who has provided financial and political opportunity is Chancellor
Angela Merkel of Germany. She has helped ease Syrian refugees and immigrants by creating an
open-door policy. Merkel was able to accomplish this policy by demonstrating compassion to her
approach (Vonberg, 2018). However, her main opponent, Horst Seehofer from the Christian
Social Union argues that Merkel’s approach led to the government collapsation in Germany. In
order to prevent Germany from collapsing, Merkel decided to listen to her opponent and made
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 13
stricter policies for immigration to Germany (Ngo, 2018). While Merkel was trying to be
London justifies that the Vietnam War has cause Vietnam to enter extreme poverty,
which interfered with the education system. When Vietnam fell under communism, The
Communist Party of Vietnam started to escalate. The Communist Party of Vietnam has promised
a full commitment to providing support for education by providing funds for construction to
upgrade schools. Their essential success in improving the education system is to raise campaign
and engage students through basic literacy courses. Furthermore, the goal is to increase literacy
However, Nghia Nguyen, a high school student in Vietnam who has now immigrated to
the United States, juxtaposes London’s justification of The Communist Party of Vietnam
assisting the education system. Through his high school experience, Nguyen’s academic journey
was more than just a basic literacy test. Many Vietnamese students are obliged to take twelve
Vietnamese, Art, Music, Teen Living, Physical Education, and another foreign language since
the model in Vietnam is “the more classes there are, the smarter students become” (Nguyen,
2018).
incorporate an essential idea to promote a healthy living, which is more does not mean better.
For example, in Virginia Beach City Public Schools system, students may only take up to eight
classes. With less classes, they are able to incorporate extracurricular activities, such as sports,
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 14
clubs, honor societies, and other after school activities. Also, students will most likely get the
eight hours of sleep that growing adolescents deserve. As a result, the essential idea of more does
Virginia Beach City Public Schools Student Statistics. Although Virginia Beach is a
microcosm of the national system of support for immigrants, it provides more educational
support than Vietnam. Mrs. Renee Collier, the Virginia Beach City Public Schools ESL
Coordinator, has statistics on the Virginia Beach education system ESL students and parents.
There are currently 1,354 English Learners in the city of Virginia Beach: nine hundred seventeen
Elementary English Learners, two hundred thirty-one Middle School English Learners, and two
hundred five High School English Learners. Out of 1,354 English Learners in the city, six
hundred forty-four students attained English proficiency; elementary school one hundred
seventy-three students, middle school three hundred two students, and one hundred sixty-nine
high school students. Due to political issues, there are some students who refuse language
services offered by Virginia Beach City Public Schools. There are currently ten students in
elementary school and fifteen students in middle school who fall into this category (Collier,
2018).
Virginia Beach City Public Schools Teacher Statistics. Virginia Beach City Public
Schools have thirty full-time and 2.5 part time ESL teachers. Elementary school currently has 16
full-time and 1.5 part-time teachers. Middle school currently has seven full-time ESL teachers.
High school has seven full-time and 1.5 part-time teachers. Two teachers have been serving the
Newcomer Program at Landstown High School, which has just launched this school year
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 15
(Collier, 2018). The student-faculty ratio makes it difficult for English Learners to learn.
Students have role models to look up and to share their feelings with; therefore, there should be
On Time Graduation for ESL Students. Once they are found eligible for ESL services,
students are given the opportunity to take courses as foreign language credit so that they can
meet graduation criteria. These are the courses that they may take: English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) I, EFL II, and Read 180. To take these course there is a prerequisite. EFL I
requires an English Language Development (ELD) level criterion of 1.0-2.5. Once they have
taken this course for one year, they can take EFL II if they meet the eligible English Language
Proficiency (ELP) level of 2.6-4.3 and pass EFL I. In addition, all ESL students can take ESL
Effective Reading Skills for High School Students at any ELD level of 1.0-4.3, also called Read
The Adult Learning Center Support. The city of Virginia Beach has developed
programs to assist adults. The Adult Learning Center has been a program to assist parents of
English Learners. However, due to adult immigrants long working hours, they have scheduling
conflicts. Classes usually takes place in the evening, but the parents are working hard to support
their family. In addition, there is a high fee associated with the English lessons.
Local Support. New Covenant Presbyterian Church, located on Kempsville Road, has
been providing free English lessons to adults of different backgrounds. Stan Kennedy, the New
Covenant Presbyterian Church tutor, has provided a facility to assist with English learning. He
first launched the program on September 2017. He created the schedule that indicates that the
class lasts for 2 hours from 7-9 p.m. with a 15-minute break. The food is free with water and
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 16
coffee. They test the adults to place them in the right level. Their classes are not formal English
like a typical English class at school. Instead, they help adults with everyday conversational
English. There are a total of 30-35 adults learning. Since there are five teachers, each teacher
gets 7 adults. The goal of the teachers are to have a heart to teach these adults. They want to see
progression in their students to be successful citizens. As long as they have the response that they
have, their program will continue to launch through advertisements, such as seeing the sign
outside of the church, viewing the internet, and observing signs from public facilities (Kennedy,
2018). Although these teachers are improving the lives of ESL adults, there is inadequate amount
of time to comprehend to material since it only takes place once a week. Therefore, the author is
Virginia Beach is just one city to assist immigration; however, the world is currently
recent wars and the destruction of entire countries. This begs the question: What do other
According to the article Education In Sweden, Sweden’s education system has provided
every child with free access to education. It is mandatory for Swedish children to attend ten years
of schooling. All children must start school at the age of six (2018). Pre-school in Sweden is for
children ages one to five. At this level, they emphasize play is an important to increase a child’s
well-being and development. There are four levels of education in Sweden: Pre-school, lagstadiet
(grade 1-3), mellanstadiet ( grade 4-6), and hogstadiet (grade 7-9). Gymnasium (grade 10-12) is
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 17
optional. As students reach this level of education, Sweden requires them to have strong passing
The New Education Act of 2011 promotes freedom of choice through providing principles for
further education. Furthermore, there Sweden has invented a new grading system that would
According to the article Education, While Swedish children are getting opportunities to
go to school, Sweden also ensures that all asylum seeking children have the right to go to school.
Infants who are one-year-old may attend preschool without paying any fee as their parents go to
work because the municipality where the asylum seekers live is responsible for equal access to
education. The Migration Agency may not reveal personal information without the parent’s
consent. Sweden benefit parents because if they have a residence permit, they are eligible to train
for Swedish for Immigrants (SFI). This program allow parents to learn Swedish to assimilate into
Conclusion
Immigrants will continue to face obstacles and challenges imposed by society, which
represents the broken staircase that they need to climb. Each immigrant has their own different
broken staircases that they need to climb. These broken staircases can range from language
parents of ESL students are constantly working long hours to financially support their family;
Parents do not have a solution to their problems. The source that parents rely on is their
children furthering their education to change the family history. Since students have a longer
road to travel, they have more time for better educational opportunities. Moreover, learning
English is easier for students at a young age. Although this concept is easier said than done, the
power of overcoming adversity is the way to reach to the top of the staircase.
Now that the little girl has reached the age of maturity, she is determined to help others
that have walked the same path. Zig Ziglar once said, “There is no elevator to success, one has to
take the stairs” (2017). The little girl feels empathetic towards the plight of immigrants and
wants to help. She has a strong comprehension of what these groups of people are going through.
Instead of taking the stairs, she plans on building an escalator to ease their pain from tutoring
References
Adelman, & Taylor. (2015). Immigrant Children in the USA Facilitating Equity at School.
Amadeo, K. (2018). Immigration Pros and Cons. Retrieved December 3, 2018, from
https://www.thebalance.com/how-immigration-impacts-the-economy-4125413
Angelini, Casi, & Corazzini. (2015). Life Satisfaction of Immigrants: Psychological Stress and
Mental Health.
https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Private-individuals/Protection-and-asylum-in-S
weden/While-you-are-waiting-for-a-decision/Education.html
Education in Sweden. (2018, October 10). Retrieved December 11, 2018, from
https://sweden.se/society/education-in-sweden/
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/apex/f?p=180:1:7173644401436:::::
Hughes, L. (2018). Mother to Son by Langston Hughes. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47559/mother-to-son
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 20
Kennedy, S. (2018, December 4). Adult ESL Assistance in New Covenant Presbyterian Church
[Telephone interview].
Kilman, C. (2009, Spring). Lonely Language Learners? Retrieved December 3, 2018, from
https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2009/lonely-language-learners
Lane, J. (2018, August 10). Superintendent's Memo #210-18. Retrieved December 11, 2018,
from
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2018/210-18.shtml
Langston Hughes, “Mother to Son” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1994 by The Estate of
Incorporated. Source: The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Vintage Books, 1994)
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47559/mother-to-son
Lloyd, C. (2017, April 12). How the ELL label holds kids back. Retrieved December 3, 2018,
from
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Ngo, M. (2018, July 03). Germany used to be a champion of open borders in Europe. Not
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Nunez, C. (2014, December 12). The 7 biggest challenges facing refugees and immigrants in the
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Nunez, S. (2017, April 09). All About Adolescent Literacy. Retrieved December 3, 2018, from
http://www.adlit.org/article/42781/
Oprysko, C. (2018, November 26). Trump threatens border shutdown if Mexico doesn't remove
https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-threatens-border-shutdown-if-mexico-doesnt-remo
ve-migrants/
https://www.apa.org/topics/immigration/immigration-psychology.aspx
Virginia Department of Education. (n.d.). Title III: Language Instruction for English Learners &
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/federal_programs/esea/title3/index.shtml
Vonberg, J. (2018, July 06). Why Angela Merkel is no longer the 'refugee chancellor'. Retrieved
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-take
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 23
Appendix A
Interview Questions:
Duc Nguyen, the father of two immigrant children, immigrated to the United States to
have a better future. Nguyen emphasized his life struggles living in Vietnam. When the Vietnam
War continued to escalate in 1975, Vietnam did not provide any educational support for students
and parents; therefore, Nguyen move to Saigon, the capital of Vietnam, to pursue a decent
By the time of his senior year in high school, his mother passed away, which led to his
father marrying another woman. This time was a difficult one for Nguyen. On top of losing his
mother and adjusting to his father’s second wife, he was not provided with any financial support.
move out and rent his own apartment by working nine hours each day. Although he went through
adversity, he knew that education was the only way to escape poverty. Nguyen’s persistence
helped him graduate high school in 1995, but he did not stop learning (Nguyen, 2018).
economics. In 2001, he wanted to challenge himself by going to law school in Saigon to become
On the personal level, he met the love of his life in 2004, and soon after they welcomed
their first child. They had their second child in 2006. Because Nguyen was balancing family,
work, and night classes, he did not have leisure time, and he only have four to five hours of
sleep. These factors did not prevent Nguyen from his dream job to become a lawyer. After nine
years of hard work, he graduated law school in 2010 and became a lawyer.
Even though being a lawyer met his standard of living, he decided to immigrate to the
United States after the death of his wife in 2015. The time seemed right for Nguyen to escape
this communist country. Nguyen wanted his two sons to have a better future. However, the
process of coming to the United States is difficult especially filling out paperwork due to the
language barrier.
After a long journey to a country full of opportunities, Nguyen continued to face new
challenges. Language barrier was the biggest obstacle that he had to overcome. The language
barrier made it difficult for him to become a lawyer again. Instead, Nguyen had to do laborious
jobs but in order to find employment, he must have his social security number.
Because of the language barrier, it continues to be difficult for him to get his driver’s
license in both the paper test and the verbal test. His current method of transportation that he can
resort to is walking. He can only rely on his two sons for a better life. The proudest moment is
that his two sons have freedom for education where no bias is taken place.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMMIGRANTS 25
Appendix B
Interview Questions:
● Can you please describe your background story about your education?
● How are you able to speak English and Spanish?
● What factors in Mexico has led you to immigrate to the United States?
● Although you have immigrated to the United States, what challenges do you continue to
face?
● How were you able to support your sons financially?
● If you were to be honest with me, do you enjoy working as Tallwood High School’s
Custodian?
● Do you depend on your sons for a better future?
B.H. was born in Mexico City, New Mexico. Her highest level of education was
completing high school. Despite her father being an English teacher, she did not continue her
studies. Unfortunately, she did not take advantage of this opportunity; therefore, her biggest
She came to the United States in 1999 because of Mexico’s selfish, corrupted
government. In these conditions, she was unable to receive an honest payment for a hard day’s
work. Furthermore, jobs were obsolete due to Mexico’s depleted economy. Because of this,
many people are in poverty, which leads to malicious behavior, such as killing, bribing, and
robbing. Consequently, Mexicans are making money by selling drugs. B.H. articulates that these
malicious behaviors have been passed down from generation to generation. This endless cycle
While living in the United States, B.H. continue to face adversity. Since she quit learning
English, the language barrier hampers her communication with native-speakers in the workforce.
She has to work three jobs: a custodian, a construction worker, and a waitress.
In addition, B.H. faces discrimination by her co-workers. Her only option is to ignore
them and raise money to support her two sons. She is constantly stressed because she does not
have time to interact with her sons. She would work hard all-day. By the time she comes home,
they would be already asleep because they are trying to prepare for the next day.
Although she has encountered many adversities, she is blessed to be in the United States.
The government has provided her family with Medicare to assist them pay for medical expenses.
The job she enjoys the most is being a school custodian because she can monitor her son’s
education. Additionally, the teachers respects her with kindness. They do not judge B.H. on her
socioeconomic status. Her only dream is for her sons to be successful. She does not want to
depend on them. She is willing to sacrifice her life for her sons to have a better future.
Despite all the good, she is concerned for her family back in Mexico because President
Appendix C
Interview Questions:
● Can you please describe your background story about your education in Ukraine?
● What factors in Ukraine has led you to immigrate to the United States?
● Although you have immigrated to the United States, what challenges do you continue to
face?
● How were you able to support your sons financially?
● Do you depend on your sons for a better future?
● What are your opinions on the dispute between Russia and Ukraine today?
Ludmila Yuzhbabenko was born in Odessa, Ukraine. After graduating high school, she
attended Odessa State University with a major in education and a minor in English. As time
progressed, she obtained a Master’s Degree for both her major and minor. Although she has met
her personal goals, she needed to be the best mother she could be. As a mother of three sons,
Yuzhbabenko wanted to provide them with a better life, a better education, and better job
opportunities.
Many Americans believe that Russia and Ukraine are the same country. When Russia
claimed part of Ukraine’s land, it caused the Soviet Union to collapse. As a result, many people
struggled economically in 1991. Therefore, her American Dream was to give her children more
opportunity.
The American Dream came at a price. The cultural battle inside of Yuzhbabenko’s head
is one that most immigrants would understand. Even though Yuzhbabenko had arrived to the
United States, she misses her immediate family and her extended family. Furthermore, she gets
independence. Her biggest contemplation question is, “Am I doing the right thing?” While being
engineer, she was fortunate to financially support her sons. Also she held part-time job as a
substitute within the Virginia Beach Public Schools system. While financially supporting her
son, she does not want them to hold part time jobs. She ended up raising successful young men.
Although they were successful young men, she still depends on them for a better future. The first
son own his business, the second son became an architect, and the third son is applying for