Interviewing First Generation Immigrants at MPA

Interviewer: Oscar Altman

Photo: MPA's website

This is the first in a series of interviews that aim to better understand the experiences, journeys, and thoughts of first-generation immigrant students at MPA. This first interview is with Fawzan Aslam. If you are a first-generation student and you would like to be interviewed as a part of this series, please let me know!

Oscar: Could you fill the readers in on who you are and your journey to the U.S.?

Fawzan: My name is Fawzan Aslam, and I am a sophomore at this school. I’m pretty sure people know me. I’ll be kind of upset if they don't; that would be surprising. My journey being, of course, an immigrant is extremely long and boring, but essentially, I was born in Pakistan, which is essentially a country right next to India. We had to move, mainly for work reasons, so we moved to Ireland and for a very short time we were in London with my dad’s parents, of course. When we finally did move to Ireland, my dad was attending his college, Trinity College, there and we lived there for about seven years. So, I spent about two years in Pakistan and about seven years in Ireland. When we came to the U.S., I was about nine years old. When I first arrived in the United States, we were in Boston. We didn't stay there for long, we took a really long two or three hour car ride over to Maryland, specifically Baltimore. Baltimore is not always known for being the safest city, but we moved into a nice suburb called Ellicott City where we lived in an apartment. After that, you know, once you climb up the career ladder you get to live in nicer places, so we moved to Minnesota. In Minnesota. I lived in Rochester and then moved here to the Twin Cities in Edina.

Oscar: Alright, well that actually answered a few of my questions, which is nice. So, it seems like the actual process of moving, you described it as very boring?

Fawzan: It is very boring. It’s very boring but also it’s very nerve wracking because you know what’s about to come next, and this has been your home for a little while, and you know this place and then suddenly you're leaving again. And moving a lot, it gets boring, and you feel like “oh ok *sigh*, let’s go back up my boxes again."

Oscar: So, it’s boring and scary?

Fawzan: Boring and scary, yeah, for sure.

Oscar: What are the main differences between your time in school in Ireland and your time in school here, and how was that transition for you?

Fawzan: The change was pretty insane. Because there’s more of a difference in the systems of education in different countries. In Ireland, it was somewhat similar- I attended a private academy there. It was the same in some aspects, but the school had its own curriculum of course, and there was obviously more of a focus on European studies as opposed to American studies.

Oscar: What was it like for you to start at MPA, and how was your integration into the community?

Fawzan: I’m going to be honest, it was really easy because MPA’s community is very accepting and very open, so I was able to easily find a great place and fit here also I had some friends who attended here of course, so that helped my transition a lot.

Oscar: What do you miss about Pakistan and Ireland?

Fawzan: A lot because of the food. It’s mostly the food, but it’s also family. Some of my relatives, I only recently met them just a couple months ago. Some of them have not seen me in 10 years, some have not seen me since I was a newborn, which is crazy. I miss those places but I’m also happy where I am here in the United States.

Oscar: Do you think MPA did a good job of making you feel welcome in the community?

Fawzan: Absolutely. I feel like MPA did an excellent job incorporating me into the community, really because I think personally it was a great experience transitioning to MPA; it wasn't like you know “figure it out yourself,” but instead MPA gave me the paddles to actually swim instead of just tossing me in, and I've learned a lot here.

Oscar: Do you feel detached from your culture and identity, and how do you view your relationship to your culture being an immigrant?

Fawzan: Culturally, wherever you go, you will always find a group of immigrants. There is already a well-established cultural group in many areas. Of course, I am from Pakistan, and personally I feel like in Minnesota it is hard to find other Pakistani people because Minnesota is no one's first choice. It’s usually the broad East Coast. So, when I first moved here, I feel like I’ve never really lost my culture because from any airplane that lands in the United States, there will be people bringing their culture, and there will be Pakistani’s bringing their culture to the United States. The only thing that I feel I have truly lost is a further depth in the culture and a physical representation of it because you don’t have that in the States. If anything, I feel like knowing that I’m Pakistani- sometimes that culture is subdued- and we’re not always allowed to speak up, but besides that, it’s here and it's thriving.

Oscar: That's good to hear. The last question I have for you is, what would you want U.S.-born citizen students of MPA, people who have lived in America their whole lives, to know about your experience or being an immigrant student in general?

Fawzan: You've got it good! Really, really good! All these other country’s governments are not doing as well, infrastructure is terrible, here in the U.S. you can legitimately get a job within an hour. It’s not that hard, and you can make a living. The U.S. has everything an immigrant could wish for, and for all the natural born citizens in the United States, you've got it really good because you have an easy way into life. But for those immigrants out there, it's hard because you've got to find a way to get into the country, you have to figure out how to apply, and those processes can be extremely confusing, and then you have to establish your presence in the United States so you can get a job, climb up the career ladder and actually have a solid foundation because the visa process takes a long time. I was a temporary resident for a scary two years before I became a permanent resident, and even when I became a permanent resident, that’s' the only time you feel secure. Naturally born citizens- you've got it really good!

Oscar: Alright! Well thank you for sitting down for this interview. Do you have any final words on being an immigrant?

Fawzan: Being a first-generation immigrant is always a struggle because you have to go from place to place, learn basic customs there, but besides that as long as you can adapt, then, yeah.

Oscar: Thanks for being the first subject of what is hopefully going to be a series of interviews.

Fawzan: Definitely, I hope you get more people to interview.