The interviewee has requested that their story not be shared on social media.

So why don't we start off by you telling me, if you feel comfortable, what you remember from your first couple days in the United States, when you arrived?

I was born in the US.

Yeah, totally.

[Laughs] I was born in the US, but I moved pretty early. My family and I, we first moved to India, actually, for, I think, a year. So, I was like a baby. So, I have no conscious memory of what it was first like in the US. After India, my family moved back to San Francisco, where I went to preschool for about a year. That's like my earliest memory of being in the U.S. We moved into a two-bedroom apartment with my grandma and my grandpa, my sister, my mom, and my dad. So, it was very full at all times, but it was fun. I have a lot of fond memories of preschool. And then I moved to Kenya, Nairobi for three years, and then I moved to New York for two years. And I guess those are less fond memories, probably because of adolescence and growing up. Because I had left the US so young, I didn't really understand a lot about American culture, so I felt very foreign and awkward. And then after New York for two years, I moved to the Philippines, where I grew up and spent most of my life, and I graduated from there, and then went to college in the US again.

Do you mind quickly telling me what ages you were in different places?

Yeah, I think preschool, I was three to four, and then from four to seven in Nairobi, and then maybe like eight to ten in New York and then ten beyond in the Philippines.

Ok. You said your experience of preschool is more fond compared to your experience in New York.

Yeah.

What would you say changed about the second time you were in the US?

I think preschool is just a fun time. You know, you're practicing cutting and making paper mâché roses. I don't know, it's just significantly a lot less stress, and you're so dependent on your parents. Whereas, when I moved to New York, it was the middle school era. Everyone was super mean and catty. Yeah, I think just age wise, I was a lot more conscious of who I was and anxiety and whatnot.

And how would you say your experience was transitioning from living in Africa to New York?

It was definitely tough, because I went to a very diverse school, and I had a lot of diverse friends, and then when I moved to New York, I almost felt way too mature for my age. Just because I had so much exposure to the world and poverty, and I felt very out of touch with a lot of the kids there. Obviously, because they had different priorities, and they lived in a world where hot water came out of your tap and you opened the pantry and there was 10 different types of cereals and 10 different types of chips. So, I almost felt like I was on an entirely different page than they were. And also, just culturally, you know, because I grew up in a South Asian family, but then lived in Kenya, my life experiences were so drastically different than kids who had grown up in the same place and in the house that their parents grew up in and their grandparents live in the same town. I just felt very out of place.

Do you have any poignant memories from the time period that stick out to you in characterizing it?

In New York?

Yeah, in New York.

Okay. I remember just being a very awkward kid, and I remember a lot of the teachers, not really knowing what to make of me, because I couldn't relate to anyone. I just felt super foreign, even though I was American, and my mom's American. Yeah, I just feel like everyone viewed me as an outsider. And I remember, when I first started out, being in a very nerdy, classic middle school friend group, and then toward the end, joining this friend group that was more popular and were more mean and catty. And I kind of started to fall down that. And I remember all the teachers being so concerned for me, because I was this nerdy kid, and all of a sudden, all my friends changed and those are core memories, but nothing too crazy.

Yeah, thank you for sharing. Was anything surprising to you about the US when you first got here?

Yeah. Even when I moved from high school to college, I went to an American school in high school in the Philippines, but I've always just been so shocked about the excess of everything in America. Everything is bigger. You go to the grocery store and there are 14 different types of flavors of ranch, and that's not normal in other countries. So, I remember just being very shocked, because I was like, “Damn, this country, it's very coddling.” Like you think that it's the norm, and you become so used to this cushy sense of life.

I remember also being shocked by how much people will talk to you. On the streets, they'll just start up conversation and stuff and make small talk at the grocery store. I think that's also very uncommon. And also, people's attitude towards friendship is very different, because in Asian culture, things will happen and you will fight with your friends, but you will always kind of make-up, because the culture is very collectivist. And so, you're like “No, this person's been my friend for so long. We can get through this.” Whereas in America, people are very individualistic and they're a lot more articulate of their emotions, which is a big thing, but people will very much be like, “I'm protecting my peace.” I don't know. Just the vocabulary they use about emotions and relationships, I had never really experienced. And there's a big culture of burning bridges, which in Asian culture, I think is less so, because you have more loyalties to family and friends. Like in the US, people will cut off their parents and stuff because the relationship doesn't serve them, and that's very valid. But I think that's less common in countries in South Asia, for example.

Would you say there's anything that you particularly like about America compared to other places you've lived?

Yeah, I really liked the dialogue around race and racism. I think countries in South Asia, for instance, there's a lot of under-the-rug-aggressions and colorist mentalities and attitudes, and America is the only country that actually calls that out and has dialog about it, from what I've experienced. I also like how extroverted and loud people are. It feels like it's easier to make friends than in other places.

Thank you so much. Is there anything else you'd like to share about your first impressions, first days in America—United States? I realize I’ve been saying America, but United States.

You're good. I remember being very shocked at the materialism. Like I had never heard of all of these brands and things. Because I think I have two first days to America, like the time that I spent in New York, and then my first year of college. I also think the attitude toward mental health is very different. People are like, “Yeah, I have a therapist, and I go to my therapist, blah, blah, every so often, and I am on these medications and stuff.” I thought that was so cool, because in Asia, that's a very taboo subject. And people think it's embarrassing to seek help and things like that.