IMMIGRANT INTERVIEW WITH ILEANA HARTWICK

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I think the best part about living in the US is that people are non-judgemental. - Ileana

Hartwick, 2017. Hispanic Americans are a group include people who are Mexican

Americans, Central and South Americans, Chicanos, Spanish Americans, Latin Americans,

Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans. All these hispanics share many values

and goals but are different in many aspects. In some ways, hispanics are a single cultural group

with fairly common history and the sharing of language, values, and customs, but in other ways,

they are a significant heterogeneous population that is an aggregate of distinct subculture

(Manning & Baruth 2009,p. 164).

Ileana Hartwick is a supervisor at Little Caesars. She has been working there for about

eleven years and has been supervisor for about four. She married in the United States and now

has a daughter who is also four. When asking her about her career choices, it was quite obvious

she had many goals set. When I graduated high school, I wanted a career in finance -

investments, and corporate banking. Her statement alone just unjustified what the book claims.

Of course, not every Hispanic will reach the odds like Ileana, but it is a start. She also stated that

Mexico does not offer a bachelor's degree in finance; therefore, her immigration into the United

States has done her more good than bad." Hispanics have had much lower high school

completion rates than African and european americans, which leaves many Hispanic youth less

prepared. Plus, Hispanic youth are more likely than European American youth to either attend

school or work. (Manning & Baruth 2009, p.174).(Williams 2001). The dropout rate among

Hispanic youth is unexpectedly high; nearly one in three students fails to graduate from high
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school. (Manning & Baruth 2009. p. 175).

Of course, not every Hispanic will reach the odds like Ileana has, but it is a start. She

also stated that Mexico does not offer a bachelor's degree in finance; therefore, her immigration

into the United States has done her more good than bad. "The dropout rate for Hispanic

Americans is partially attributed to the greater dropout rate for Hispanic immigrants: 44 percent

compared with 21 percent for United States born. (Manning & Baruth 2009. p. 174).

I asked Ileana about the schooling in Mexico, since it is very different from here in the

US. We went on to discuss her education and how it has driven her to become successful. She

said, "I was fortunate enough to go to a highly recognized high school who had programs to

study abroad for a bachelor's degree. It was then, when I started to consider different countries to

study in for a year. The educational challenge of latina's are compounded by the high rate of

poverty in their communities. The learning problems caused by a lack of English language

proficiency, racism, and sexual harassment. (Manning & Baruth 2009. p.177).

From my personal knowledge, I know that you can not go far into job searching if your

first language is not English. Ileana is from Acapulco, Mexico. Their native language is Spanish.

She has travelled to different states within Mexico and for her first eight years, she resided in

Mexico City - which she compares to California "fast paced and overpopulated". She says, "I

had been to the United States to visit and shop at the border towns, so I already had an idea of

what life was like in the US. I did not have many expectations of what life would be like as I am

using to moving and adapting to new places." Next, we went on to discuss her language speaking

ability. Because living in the United States, our main language is english and in Mexico it is

spanish, it could be a drastic change into living either here or there. You must have to understand
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the language in order to properly adjust to living in a foreign country.

As far as Ileana's English learning, she is already fluent but, she says she still has

difficulty with urban slang words. I know it's true, because I used a slang word with her one day

and she did not understand. One day I told her, instead of saying her makeup looked really nice, I

said her face looked "beat" - which is slang for nice. After saying that I felt bad because she

thought I was ridiculing her. I explained to her what a "beat face" meant and now it is an inside

joke between us.

In mexico, there are many ways you can apply for a green card. There is a family based

greencard, which means If you are a first-degree relative of an adult US Citizen or a

spouse/unmarried minor child of a green card holder, you may be eligible for a green card. Also,

You can get a green card based on a permanent job offer from a US employer. And lastly, they

can propose a random drawing among applicants worldwide even though it is not available for

those born in Mexico - this is called a Diverse Lottery. (Reichart, Tal. "What Are the

Requirements for a Mexican to Get a Green Card?" Quora. N.p., 16 Apr. 2016. Web. 17 Apr.

2017).

When asking Ileana about her green card, visa, and her college life, it seemed like money

was not an issue. "I had to apply for the student visa, and the cost was about $1000 US. Dollars

for a 2-year permit, which allowed me to get an associates degree. When I graduated, my

counselor suggested to apply for a work permit. The permit cost about $600 for one year. Thats

when I applied for Little Caesars as an assistant manager because my associates degree was in

business management. While I worked, I saved enough money to apply for a second student visa

which also allowed me to remain working while going to school. Im currently a permanent
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resident, formerly known as green card". I don't know much about her financial state but, it

seemed as if she had a plan and knew exactly what she wanted to do. "For the most part, the

process was fast. I considered certain cases and certain applications for different visas that can

take years to resolve. Each application took about two to three months to get approved. Once I

was in the US, the different applications still took about two to three months. However, while

you are waiting for a renewal, you are temporarily approved and can continue to work until you

get your cards." "Over half of hispanics, African Americans, and American Indians/ Alaskan

natives are poor or near poor, compared to 26 percent of whites and 33 percent of Asians and

Pacific Islanders" (Manning & Baruth, 2009. p.29).

Her process into the United stated seemed relatively uncomplicated. Even though I have

heard that most hispanics have had difficulty getting residency in the United States, Ileana has

made a wonderful life for herself. Her bachelor's degree and efficient english speaking has gotten

her very far in her life. Ileana is quickly rising up the ladder and beating the odds to reach her

corporate goal.