Narrator: Natalia Hernandez

Date: July 25, 2020

Location: Ithaca, New York (Virtual)

Summary: Natalia Hernandez, an immigrant from Cuba, discusses her childhood in Cuba and the process of immigrating to America with her family. She also goes into detail about her experiences as a Latina in high school and college at Cornell University.

Topics: Childhood, Education, Politics, Immigration Process, Family, Cultural Adjustment, Employment, Cultural Adjustment, Religion, Pandemic, Mental Health, Discrimination, Politics

Outline

Section 1: (00:00-15:02)

• Childhood- Born and raised in Güines, Cuba until age 9, then immigrated to Miami, Florida in a neighborhood known as “North Cuba” with family

• Education- Noticed differences between schooling and school culture in Cuba and the U.S. (i.e. uniforms, teachers)

• Politics, Childhood- Recounts a story where something she said was interpreted as being pro-Capitalism and getting in trouble with her teacher

• Immigration Process- Having to keep it a secret that her family was planning on moving because of the backlash that comes to families that leave

• Family, Politics- Family is split on how they feel about communism

• Some are staunch supporters of Castro, others are tired of the poverty and living conditions

• Family- Varadero is a special place to her because her parents met there and they have a family home there where she grew up visiting

• Showed the interviewer a jewelry holder her uncle made out of shells from the beach in Varadero

Section 2: (15:02-28:01)

• Immigration Process- Remembers her family trying to move furniture out in secret at 3:00am because they lived right next to what was essentially a Communist Party neighborhood watch group

• Recalls the immigration process at the airport in Cuba and all of her family members being there to send them off

• Immigration Process- The U.S. immigration process was much worse than Cuba. Having to wait in “el cuartico” or “the room” for hours before they were allowed to enter

• Immigration Process- Delayed because her dad’s name was Fidel and her brother did not complete the mandatory year of service to the Communist Party

• Family- Family in the U.S. that she had never met was there to greet her family

• Family, Immigration Process- Grandpa “claimed” their family to have them immigrate, which is a relatively easier way to immigrate even with all that they had to go through

• Education, Immigration Process- Part of the reason for keeping immigration secret was to prevent teachers and students from treating her differently

Section 3: (28:01-41:54)

• Family- Grandpa had rented an apartment for their family, so they had their own space upon immigrating

• Cultural Adjustment, Education- Had a very difficult time adjusting to school in the U.S. because of the language barrier despite being a good student in Cuba

• Had many mean teachers

• Employment- Mother and father at first struggled to find work, then had working hours  that made it difficult to see them

• Education- School psychologist started tutoring her English and became a support person

• Education- Struggled a lot with school in fourth grade, but got more comfortable in 5th grade. Schooling became more intense in 6th grade at the charter school

• Language- Starting processing mentally in English rather than translating to Spanish in her mind in the 8th grade

• Feels privileged to have immigrated young because she became more comfortable with English

Section 4: (41:54-1:00:06)

• Education, Family- Pressure from her parents to get all A’s, go to college, and attain a better life– internalizing that mentality

• Education, Family- Was the first person in her family to really try and aim for out-of-state and Ivy Leagues, so she didn’t have much help from them

• Education- Applied to many Ivies and prestigious schools with the help of her school counselor and friends that had gotten into these schools in prior years

• Applied to Cornell the day of the deadline and received a “likely letter” the day after

• Family- College application and selection process was difficult for her because her parents didn’t understand the process.

• Cultural Difference- College process in Cuba was very different which is why it was hard for her parents to understand

• Religion, Education- Mother told her of a college friend in Cuba who was ranked lower as a student because she went to church often

Section 5: (1:00:06-1:14:54)

• Religion- Grew up Catholic but considers herself to be spiritual, not religious

• Went to church for special occasions

• Realized she didn’t adhere to Catholicism or Christianity around 15/16 after her “uncle” passed

• Became more spiritual in college

• Religion, Politics- Faced backlash from her extended family when she thought she was atheist because atheism was so closely associated with Communism and generally being a bad person

• Religion- Sees morality as tied to religion within the Latinx and Cuban community

• Religion- In her freshman year, she had discussions around spirituality with friends and in classes. She was thinking about what she believed and how she could believe in multiple things

• Got into Astrology

• Religion- When she identified as Atheist she was associated as being more American and less Cuban

• Pandemic, Religion- Difficult to have deeper conversations with her parents over the phone

Section 6: (1:14:54-1:26:35)

• Pandemic, Employment/Service- Was working at the Office of Student Advocates at the onset of the pandemic, so she was trying to get resources for students and lobby administration

• Wasn’t processing the events that were taking place because she was doing a lot of work

• Pandemic- Was living in the dorms at the onset of the pandemic, did not feel like she was in a stable place

• Observed that the economy was prioritized over people, specifically marginalized peoples

• Identity- She is thankful to be a citizen and for the opportunities she has gotten, but still critical of the country and its injustices

• Politics- During the Black Lives Matter protests, she noticed a lot of performative actions by corporations and white Americans, but also genuine people on the ground at protests.

• Also witnessed rage in the form of riots and protests from oppressed peoples

• Politics- Got into Facebook fights over Black Lives Matter with Cuban family who immigrated in the 60s/70s and who have since accumulated generational wealth

• Many white Cubans consistently support Trump and are racist

• Perceived as communist for voting Bernie

Section 7 (1:26:35-1:35:42)

• Education- Had negative experiences in PSP, a free freshman summer program for Cornell students

• Students realized they had to participate in the program because they were marginalized in some way and resented the program for making them do more work

• Beneficial socially

• Identity, Cultural Adjustment- Being at Cornell, a PWI, was the first time she really felt like a minority because she was the majority at Miami

• Cultural Adjustment- Greek Life and multicultural Greek Life were very prevalent at Cornell. She did not want to participate in either and had critiques of Greek Life.

Section 8 (1:35:42-1:50:00)

• Mental Health- Was feeling symptoms of depression her sophomore year. Her dean was one of the first people to tell her she may be depressed.

• Almost was not able return for the next semester

• Family, Mental Health- The difficulty of explaining mental health struggle to immigrant parents

• Education, Mental Health- Junior year was better for her compared to previous years because she got to take a break the summer before.

• Discrimination- While living in the Latino Living Community, the fraternity next door had a sign saying “build a wall” around the LLC.

• An example of the types of things Latinx students face on campus

• Identity- Has privilege as a white Latina, but still gets insensitive comments and glances when people realize she is Latinx.

• Mental Health, Family- Mom was understanding of her going to therapy, but the initial conversation about her mental health was difficult

• Politics, Immigration, Religion- Sees these three as being very intertwined how Cubans engage with the political system