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Name of Interviewer: Jose Gomez Name of Interviewee: Dong Soo Lee Date of Interview: December 10th, 2014 Date of Birth: March 3rd, 1992 Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA Language of Preference: Spanish and English Ethnicity: Hispanic Gender: Male Settlement/Migrant History: His parents are from Tinum (2 hours away from Cancun, Mexico) Education: High School Employment: U.S. Navy , Garcia’s Grill Children: None

Thank you for participating in this interview. My name is Daniel lee and it’ s my pleasure to interview you.

When and where were you born? I was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1992. What are your parents’ names? My dad’s name is Juan Gomez and My mother’s name is Maira Gomez.

When and where were they born? My dad was born in Tinum in 1968 and my mom was born in Tinum 1972. How did your parents meet? Have they told you about it? It’s a funny story. I was during the summer of 1985. One day my dad went to a supermarcado to buy some stuff and fell in love with a cashier.. who was my mom. Dad asked my mom to have a date with him although my mom rejected quite a few times. It’s an embarrassing story.. they went to a music festival and that’s the time when they got closer.. I am not sure if dad proposed her to marry though.. What did they do for a living? My dad was a worker at a factory when I was born. Mom had many jobs like cashier, cooker and English teacher, but now she is a housewife. Did they immigrate to the United States? Yes, they did immigrate to the United States. Because the city Tinum was really poor and difficult condition to live, My parents decided to move to LA. They immigrated from Mexico and at that time when there were a lot of Mexicans migrating to the U.S.. I think my parents were part of them. Our family then moved to Bowling Green , KY when I was 12 years old. When and where did they immigrate from? They immigrated from Tinum, Mexico. Tinum is located close to Cancun for clarification.

How would you describe your childhood, Jose?

My childhood was not a pleasant experience. Our family was so poor that we always had to eat meals at home and I do not remember going out for dinner with my family. We did not have the heating system so we had to actually boil the water to get shower or cook. you can’t even imagine it..and I do not want to recall! When and where was your first job? Didn’t you work at some restaurant? I don’t recall the name.. My first job was at Garcia’s Grill located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I first began to work starting my freshmen year in high school.. How did you even find this job? Garcia’s Grill was my neighbor’s restaurant. My friend Jario Mendoza actually introduced me to work at this restaurant. I really enjoyed working there and enjoyed the free food at the end of day, especially enchilada, nachos and burritos. What were the terms of your employment? (earnings, management, interaction, tasks undertaken) It was approximately 8 dollars per hour. I worked 20 hours a week. I worked mostly right after school by driving my own car.. Who were your fellow employees? It was mostly my Mexican friends from the school or other districts. What did you like most about your job? I really liked cooking Mexican food. I also liked how they were so many people coming and enjoyed our food.

Describe a typical workday?

As soon as I got into the restaurant, I would go into the kitchen, preparing for the food by grilling beef and chicken and cooking rice for the food orders. When the work gets busier and customers rush in, I would take order from the customer and deliver the food efficiently and effectively. My work starts at 4 PM to 9 PM. It was so exhausting, but I could endure thinking about how much money I make.. What did you do on your day/s off work? I took time to relax at home and spend time with my family mostly.. I used to go fishing with my brother and dad, but did not really enjoy it. What did you and your family and/or fellow friends do together for entertainment? Sports? Movies? Well.. Soccer is obviously your favorite hobby.. (Giggles) it’s true man.. I played soccer with my friends at Lovers Lane Soccer Complex every Saturday. Sometimes, I would travel to compete in the tournament in Columbus Ohio or Florida. Did you gravitate toward Spanish language media and events? I only watch soccer, which is narrated by Spanish but I do not usually watch spanish TV shows or attend any spanish events that frequently. But I always watched the news in Spanish in order to keep track of what is happening in Mexico.

Okay. Thank you for sharing. Now I would like to hear about your family backgrounds.

Do you have any siblings? Yes, I do. How many? I have one younger brother When and where were they born? My younger brother was born in 1994 in LA. Where do they live now? They are currently living in Bowling Green, KY.

Let’ s get into more detail of your background now.

What do you remember most about your childhood? If I was asked to pick a moment that I can now picture is when my father came home after work with the hands full of candies and chocolate. I think it was in winter and shared with my brother and sister. It sounds pathetic, but I think I was enjoying those sweets pretty much. It seems like a obvious question but, did you attend school? Yes, I attended primary and secondary school. I graduated from high school. Which school did you attend? I went to the public school, such as Bowling Green High School. Did you have

a paying job while you were in school? Is it the Gar-

cia’s Grill again? Yeah..Garcia’s Grill. My hourly wage was 8 dollars.

What were the challenges of undertaking employment and an education at the same time? It was really challenging, as I became a junior and senior. I needed to get a lot of things done to prepare for college application like SAT, GPA, extra-curricular activities, but I spent my whole afternoon working there so I did not have much time to prepare those. Instead, I dedicated myself to study really hard and was able to pull some decent grade to get into the Navy.. What do you remember most about attending school? I used to play soccer on High School team. It was State Championship and I scored from a free kick. It was one of the most amazing feeling I had from playing soccer. Do you remember any differences in your parents and teachers’ assessment and treatment of girls’ and boys’abilities, opportunities, and rights? I remember that my friends called me “taco” before I got close to them just because I am Mexican-American. I could have told the teachers to stop or punish them, but I just cried every time I heard that word. Now I know it’s a joke and do not really get upset, but I couldn’t’t stop crying when I was young. Also, there was a education discrimination against me. When I went to take the placement test for math, I received the easy math test while most people received the challenging math test. So, I told the proctor that I also want to be challenged in order to compete with others.

Were you allowed to join youth clubs and/or organizations?

I participated in a soccer team, both school and travel team. And in senior year, I was in a dance club.. not like belly dance or folk dance, more like free style dancing.. Wow.. I didn’t know you were part of the dancing team..were you allowed to date? Yes, I was. Were your parents strict throughout your youth? In my opinion, my parents were not that strict on me and my brother. But, they always told me and my brother to study hard and work hard because they said it will be paid off in the future.. I know where they are coming from, but it was kind of stressful.. What did you enjoy most about being a young woman/man? As being a young man, I appreciated the fact that I could dance with my friends and have performance in front of the students at school. However, as you know, I am not as flexible as I was then so I am not able to dance vigorously now.. I really enjoyed playing soccer all throughout my middle and high school years.. I am sorry that I keep mentioning soccer but it’s true..(smile) I was able to enjoy every moment of high school because I interacted with other white friends and Mexican friends via playing soccer and go for snacks after.. Were interactions with your friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, and other members of your community strictly supervised or did your age and gender

entitle you to varying levels of social freedom?

I was able to interact with friends as much as I wanted and got along with people from different races and ethnics quite well. I don’t recall any moment when I was entitled to a certain social freedom because of my age. There was not much racial barrier in Bowling

Green, KY. Oh! I remember there was once that I felt really resent about the fact that I was not old enough to buy alcohol. What was most difficult about being a young woman/man of Mexican descent? There were some moments when I looked back at my racial/ethnic backgrounds. My relationship between white students was quite good, but there were some sudden moments when I looked at the color of their skin and hair and started comparing with myself.. I think it was extreme when I was middle school when I went through puberty.. you know how people think about their identity and opposite sex in puberty.. Anyways, I did not have any difficult or frustrating moments and just admitted the difference as I got older. Really, I did not feel any shame or pity for being different though. As a young man of Mexican descent, I realized that I always have to try harder in order to distinguish myself from others. It was my main motivation to join the Navy was that I wanted to prove myself and to others that I can serve America just like other white friends. Did you interact with women and men from different class, racial, and ethnic backgrounds? Of course.. you know I had a lot of friends in high school! Could you tell me more about the interaction between them? One shocking moment I remember is that we were playing hide and seek at school and we had to pick four people who will seek others. There were a number of white student, two Asians and one of my friends who is from the same origin as mine. Suddenly, one of the white students said “Okay. How about blonde hair versus others”. I was really offended by his saying because he basically meant to divide the group based on color.

Have you participated in community and/or political organizations and/or clubs? During my high school year, I was in charge of planning and organizing events for International Festival. I was the leader of Mexico team and organized events.. I remembered talking about the city Tinum and some of its great features.. I don’t think I joined any political organization though.. Can you elaborate more on your investment and interactions in this organization? There was one event where the main theme was Mexican and we brought in a guest speaker..the main purpose of the event was to educate social justice, cultural awareness, stereotypes and political consciousness via films, speakers and workshops! I and other group of Mexican friends talked about the plan and how we were going to approach this. This is the only politically-associated event I had during my high school year..as far as I think. Were your family, neighbors, and friends receptive of your participation? I introduced the event to a few Spanish-background friends, but it was hard to recommend to students who did not have any Spanish backgrounds. Why was it hard to recommend to non-Spanish students? Because I was afraid they wouldn’t like it and maybe I am forcing them to experience..? Although you were not a member of a formal community and/or political organization, do you remember instances and/or circumstances in

which you asserted your rights, independence, and political views on your own? There was one circumstance I remember that I rebutted a student’s opinion toward illegal Mexican immigrants. She said they illegally immigrated to the U.S. and thus, should be sent back to their home country. I stood against her by saying we, no matter Americans or Hispanic, were all immigrants to this country and no one should be sent back. I admitted it’s illegal, but there should be political or economic supports provided to them by the government.

Here comes to the last part of the interview! I would like to ask you about your perceptions as a Mexican descent.

What do you consider to be among the most influential, important, critical, or life changing decisions, moments, or influences in your life? I think the most influential event was to come to join the navy and meet a lot of people from different ethnic or racial backgrounds. Like I said before, I wanted to be distinguished from other Mexican friends and wanted to be a leader. By serving the country, I can proudly say that I am an American also. I would like to help other Mexicans who go through hard times in terms of working or living. It truly provided me opportunity to look back and think where I am truly originated..

What did it mean to be of Mexican descent?

Actually I am really proud of the fact that I am a Mexican descent! Well, as I mentioned, there were some students making fun of my Mexican background, but now it is that I see a lot of people from Mexico background in the states and I think we are the main part of the labor that keeps this country running. I really like our Mexican culture and enjoy everything about it, especially food.. and like their strong friendship and warm hearts.. What is your current relationship to Mexico? Now that I was born in the United States and am a citizen, Mexico feels like a true home to me.. It is true that although I am Mexican originated, I am more used to the life in the U.S. However, deep down in my heart, I always think Mexico is my home country. In general, are your memories of settling into the United States positive or negative? As a person who was born in the U.S., I have no idea how the memories of settling would be. However from what my father said, the memories were not really positive to them. He worked at a farm and his job was to harvest crops, but often he had to skip meals and was not paid for what he did. He said he did not regret coming to the United States because he is happy to see me and my brother get good education and enjoy the life. How did settling into the United States change your life? It changed my life so much. I was able to get the great education in the world. Because I was able to interact with other white and other friends from different countries, I was able to look back at my identity and realize where I am coming from.. Also, because I was settled into the United States, I had the opportunity to serve on the Navy. I feel like I am so lucky to get support from the Navy both financially and educationally. Thank you Jose, it was my pleasure to listen to your story!

No problem man.. tell me if you need any additional help!...