Time transcripts of Jorge Interview

[00:00:00:01]	[ Interviewer: I wanted to thank you for being here today

[00:00:04:04]	to do this interview with me. Could you please state your name, 

[00:00:07:06]	and just tell us a little bit about yourself before I get into the questions? ] 

[00:00:10:06]	My name is Jorge Salazar. I'm 20 years old.

[00:00:13:06]	I'm a sophomore at Ohio State studying Biology, 

[00:00:15:26]	and I'm from Birmingham, Alabama.

[00:00:17:19]	[ Pause ] [ Interviewer: I wanted to begin

[00:00:20:11]	by asking you what the main ethnicity, or heritage, of your family is? ]

[00:00:24:18]	My family is from Mexico. Both of my parents were born

[00:00:28:03]	and raised in Mexico, and I was born in Mexico also.

[00:00:31:27]	My family moved from there to L.A. when I was one,

[00:00:35:07]	and when I was 4 our family moved to Birmingham.

[00:00:39:06]	[ Interviewer: Okay, and how much of a factor would you say that the 

[00:00:44:08]	Mexican ethnicity has played in affecting your literacy? 

[00:00:48:15]	Basically, learning to read, write and speak. ]

[00:00:52:13]	I think it played a big part, as I had to learn

[00:00:56:06]	Spanish and English at the same time growing up, and I think

[00:01:00:10]	that helped to develop communication skills as I was growing

[00:01:04:04]	older. [ Interviewer: Would you say that 

[00:01:07:25]	the Mexican heritage, and like the traditions, language and customs,

[00:01:12:08]	were forced on you, or did you kind of pick that stuff up

[00:01:15:26]	voluntarily? ] It was a sort of in between.

[00:01:20:21]	My parents greatly encouraged that I 

[00:01:23:20]	learn to speak it, and to read and write.

[00:01:28:08]	Whenever I was given the chance, they wanted me to speak

[00:01:32:09]	Spanish with them, and to my sisters, so that I could preserve my culture

[00:01:36:25]	and my native language.

[00:01:40:16]	[ Interviewer: Do you get to see your familiy in Mexico very often, and

[00:01:44:17]	does that hold any special meaning for you? ] We used 

[00:01:48:21]	to visit family in Mexico at least

[00:01:52:18]	once a year, up until I started college,

[00:01:56:02]	because once I got into college it became harder to visit and to gather

[00:02:00:05]	all my family together. I wish I could

[00:02:04:29]	visit them more often, because

[00:02:08:08]	whenever I go to visit family it's really special to me.

[00:02:12:11]	We have great times there, and it's usually during holidays

[00:02:17:08]	or a special birthday.

[00:02:22:05]	[ Interviewer: Were there any

[00:02:24:11]	certain particular kinds of traditions, customs, literature or

[00:02:29:06]	stories that you remember really well that influenced you? ]

[00:02:32:20]	I do have some particular memories. Whenever

[00:02:36:27]	we would go visit...

[00:02:39:26]	almost every day when I was there for a visit,

[00:02:44:05]	my grandparents would gather all of our family together; 

[00:02:49:01]	my aunts, my uncles and my little cousins, and we would

[00:02:53:02]	go through the rosary, and go through all the prayers.

[00:02:57:11]	That really stuck into my mind, 

[00:03:01:08]	because I had to learn all the prayers in Spanish, so like

[00:03:04:20]	it was really special to our family just to pray together.

[00:03:08:10]	[ Interviewer: Has that religious upbringing

[00:03:13:14]	stuck with you as you've gone on through life and

[00:03:17:09]	into college? ] Yeah, I think so, because 

[00:03:19:25]	having a family that is very religious

[00:03:25:22]	and seeing my grandmother, who was the most religious,

[00:03:29:16]	kind of inspires me.

[00:03:32:14]	She became sort of a role model to keep my faith

[00:03:37:17]	as I am growing older.

[00:03:41:13]	[ Interviewer: How different do you think your path to 

[00:03:45:18]	literacy, and just life in general,

[00:03:47:23]	would have been if you weren't raised in your Mexican

[00:03:49:17]	household? ] I think it would have been a lot different.

[00:03:52:18]	It's really opened my eyes...

[00:03:56:22]	growing up in a Mexican family, because

[00:04:00:29]	it's a whole different country in Mexico.

[00:04:05:02]	You see things that you won't see in America over there, and

[00:04:09:13]	it's just really opened my eyes to 

[00:04:12:28]	the opportunities that I have here and why my parents brought me here.

[00:04:17:25]	It's really just motivated me to do well,

[00:04:21:20]	so as not to waste what they gave me.

[00:04:26:00]	[ Interviewer: Would you say that the tools that you

[00:04:29:19]	gained have been used by you as you've

[00:04:33:24]	grown up, and recently or in general after your childhood? ]

[00:04:37:15]	Can you repeat that question?

[00:04:42:04]	[ Interviewer: Basically just, uh, the tools, 

[00:04:45:19]	the literacy tools that you have gained

[00:04:47:08]	growing up in your Mexican household,

[00:04:48:28]	have those affected you recently or, in general, after your

[00:04:54:20]	childhood growing up going into college? ] 

[00:04:56:27]	Yeah, I think they've helped me,

[00:04:58:18]	because at times, um, I've been able to

[00:05:02:05]	use the spanish that I've learned to help me out.

[00:05:06:02]	For example, I was at the airport once, and

[00:05:09:11]	I didn't know where I was,

[00:05:11:21]	but I noticed there was someone speaking Spanish on the phone.

[00:05:14:15]	I asked the man for help in Spanish and

[00:05:17:26]	he was able to help me out, so that's an example

[00:05:20:08]	of how I've been able to use the tools I've learned

[00:05:26:07]	from growing up in a Mexican household.

[00:05:29:11]	[ Interviewer: Other than the stuff that you've seen and learned growing up, 

[00:05:34:19]	have you tried to further your studies at all of the Mexican culture, and

[00:05:38:14]	get an even broader background? ] I took Spanish

[00:05:42:16]	in high school, so that I could actually learn the

[00:05:46:13]	grammar, because I was never given the opportunity to learn 

[00:05:49:09]	Spanish in the classroom studying, until it was offered in high school.

[00:05:54:11]	So I took spanish for four years, and I took an AP Spanish class,

[00:05:59:11]	and then once I got into college I decided to take

[00:06:02:20]	Portuguese, because it was similar to Spanish.

[00:06:05:11]	I am considering furthering my studies

[00:06:10:18]	in Portuguese, as a matter of fact.

[00:06:12:24]	[ Interviewer: What do you plan on doing with your Portuguese studies? 

[00:06:17:28]	Is there any reason you were trying to learn it? ]

[00:06:22:05]	Um, not really. I couldn't

[00:06:26:10]	do Spanish, and I didn't want to do Spanish since I already knew it, but I wanted to learn

[00:06:30:17]	a new language, and I know that Portuguese is similar to

[00:06:34:28]	Spanish. Um,

[00:06:38:06]	maybe one day I can go to a Portuguese speaking country

[00:06:42:25]	and speak with the people there, 

[00:06:45:26]	and experience that culture.

[00:06:50:02]	[ Interviewer: Alright, well that's all I had to ask you today. 

[00:06:53:03]	I wanted to thank you again for being here

[00:06:55:16]	today and doing this interview for me, and it was really good

[00:06:58:09]	to hear your story. ] You're welcome.

[00:07:02:14]	[ End of Interview ]