Winter 2019 ICS 20: Exploring Asian American Experiences Report

This report, prepared for an ICS 20 course at De Anza College, explores the experiences of Asian Americans through the lens of oral history. The author conducted three interviews with individuals of Chinese American ethnicity, ranging in age from 35 to 50, including relatives and a friend. The interviews focused on their initial experiences in America, attitudes they encountered, job opportunities, and overall experiences. The report then delves into the author's personal reflections on immigration, challenges faced, and the importance of perseverance and determination for Asian Americans. The report uses themes of personal history and oral history to provide context to the interviewees' stories. The author emphasizes the significance of hard work and resilience in navigating the challenges of racism and achieving success in the USA. The report highlights the struggles, determination, and ultimate achievements of the interviewees and the author's own experiences in starting a business and hiring employees, providing a comprehensive view of the Asian American experience.

Running head: ASIAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCES
Asian American Experiences
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Check List 1
Names of the 3 People to be interviewed
The names of the three people to be interviewed are Michael Wu, Cho Chang and
Stephan Wu.
Ages of the 3 People to be Interviewed
The ages of the three people to be interviewed are 50 years, 35 years and 50 years
respectively
Ethnicity of Each of the People to be Interviewed
The ethnicity of each of the people to be interviewed is Chinese American.
Relation to the Interviewees
Two of the interviewees are distant relatives and one, Cho Chang, is a friend.
Planned Interview Questions
Some of the planned interview questions include what it is like for the interviewee upon
first arrival in the host country, America, what the American attitude was like with regard to the
interviewee, what job opportunities the interviewees benefitted from and what their overall
experience in America has been like.
Check List 2
1. Have the interviewees been completed with all 3 subjects?
Yes interviews have been conducted with all the 3 concerned persons.

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2. How do you feel about the Quality of Interview Material that you collected?
The quality of interview material is of a high standard. All interviewees were
honest and forthcoming in their answers to the questions that were asked
3. Do you need to go back to any of the individuals for more information? If so, why?
No I do not need to go back to any of the individuals for more information as the
answers given by all three of them were quite substantive
4. What course themes or topics do you plan on using to provide context for the three
oral histories?
I will make use of narratives and themes pertaining to personal histories and oral
Native American history to provide context for three oral histories.
5. What do you plan to focus on in addressing the following in your paper: What do these
three oral histories suggest is interesting or worth noting about the experiences of Asian
Americans in the U.S.?
What I want to emphasize in my paper and what is clearly suggested in the three oral
histories regarding Asian American experiences is the fact that hard work, the determination
to succeed and insensitivity to racism is what Asian Americans need in order to survive in the
USA.

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Over centuries now, millions of people from Asia leave their nations to start their lives in
America. They go in search of work, economic opportunity, freedom from persecution and new
beginnings. Even I left my nation with higher dreams in my soul and zeal in my blood. Knowing
all the detrimental effects what I might face in the new country and new world, I did not let my
subconscious mind rule over my stubborn mind. It was back then when all my closed ones asked
me to not run behind power but little did they know that what I wanted. Neither did I want that
much people to know about it except my too closed ones. Well, keeping everything in mind I left
(Parks, Acacia and Robert 155).
After landing to a new country, yes definitely it was not that I was pleased at first, but
was very much shaken and nervous deep inside. Still, I consoled my heart that it should not be
that tough for me because I have many people there who were known. Gradually, with all sorted
in my brain, I managed all my belongings and looked for a place to stay. That was the day when
I decided that whatsoever problems come in life, I need to stay strong and not let myself get
blown away. As this world is a complicated place, traps are all over around you. So, all we need
is to hold on to our self-esteem and keep our morale strong. No matter if we know that today is a
tough day, tomorrow might seem more straightforward. Zeal is the only resource of all we can
achieve in life (Lu, Alexander and Y.Joyel Wong 345).
This was all possible only because I was determined and did not boast about what I was
doing and what all I wanted, maybe leaving my nation and stepping into some new place was not
my ultimate option left. I knew that probably I was not all alone here; I had a few distant
relatives of mine who were known to me. So, it made me worry less. As I was a graduate and
held a degree in mechanical engineering, I was quite confident and sure of the fact that finding a
good job source would not be that difficult for me here.

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Similarly, the next day I was called at one of my relative’s place, they were as usually very
welcoming. Their hospitality was commendable, and especially my aunt took special care of me
as she still remembered what I loved the most to eat. It was ten years ago was the last visited
there. I was fine definitely, but also had that shy feeling constantly working in me that I was just
a distant relative to them and could not visit them daily. So, as fast as possible I had to start
focusing on what I had all thought about and mainly what I was there for (Museus, Samuel and
Julie 551).
My agenda and my protocols were apparent in front of me; it was just left to be
implemented. Well, I spoke to my uncle then about career, opportunities, market and companies.
He was very understanding and motivated me to do better. He knew that although my concept
was strong, yet I might find difficulty in interaction as my accent was way different to the
nations. Understanding and communicating with the people there was again another obstacle in
front of my dreams. Though overcoming it was time taking but not impossible. My heart and
soul knew what I was for and what steps I take in life are directly and indirectly connected to my
parents. And if I make any wrong decisions in life, my parents are the ones who are going to
suffer. Above all, letting a man leave his own family and go out of his nation to some other
country just for the sake of fantasizing his dreams into reality was very bold. It was all because
of my father who let me do this and ignoring all the stereotypes; he genuinely had faith in me
that I really could do it. This is why whatever I did, I always kept his last words in mind and so
could I also ignore my mom’s tears. To the extent our family cares for us, nobody could ever do
so (Katigbak et al 210).
The next day, my uncle after studying a brief about my curriculum vitae, called me in his
office. It was officially time then when I was asked to go and visit him. It was an interview

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session which I was completely unaware of. My uncle was a middle-aged person, yet he looked
older than that, and his experience looked way more. So as I went there, I was straightaway
called into his cabin. To my first thought it seemed that he was in deep thought about something
after I asked his permission to get in, he responded reasonably. At first, I was asked to give a
brief info about my curriculum vitae, which I did. It was quite obvious though because I prepared
all night about behaving and presenting myself in the best way I could. The company basically
was a developing company in the United States, and was a core company for mechanical
engineers, yet recruited other branches too as it had its consultancy section. Altogether it was a
core company which produced and manufactured vehicle parts. So, it was almost close to what I
was working for. Then he kept on asking me questions related to my course and more of design
based conceptions. I gradually realised that he might be was convinced to hire me as I could be
of much help to the company since my practical knowledge was strong. It all came up so
naturally as I had been to developing industries in the middle east to experience and gather
intelligence about my manufacturing and production section. The interviewer, my uncle after
asking me questions related to almost all the subjects of my course, he said that might be I did
not deserve the company. I was initially shocked a bit, to his answers. He could understand how I
was gawking to what he claimed after the entire interview session (Ocampo and Anthony 425).
After a momentary silence, he told me that he wanted me to talk to two of his perfect
friends. One of them was as old as him, and the other was though younger yet was equally as
experienced as him. So eventually, he advised me to visit their companies once as he was also in
collaboration with hem since the last decades. Thus as per market requirements, I could be hired.
After that one hour conversation and getting to know such a verdict, it was quite upsetting for
me, as I did not expect to get refused from this. Then and there I realised that the thing which

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seems natural turns out to be the difficult and depressing at times. It is not hard work all the time;
it's also fate and destiny that works for hand in hand.
With all that contradictory verdicts, I left the office, yet with no sign of offence and grief that I
got rejected from my uncle as an interviewer. This went on for some months. I was one of the
strugglers by then in America, who used to struggle day and night to fulfil his dreams. His
ultimate desire to become an entrepreneur. I wanted to start my own business, my private
company and mark a benchmark in the history of my family. My struggle story went on for
years, till the time when I finally caught hold of the decision that I am stable that I can buy a
company. Ultimately, then I did, did it after two years of my struggle of running after getting a
good job so that I could invest my wholesome capital (Chen et al 195).
These successively brought me to the end of struggle life and landed me to a life where I
was the one who would hire people for my own reputed company. That very day came when I
had to interact with people I would want to work at my company. I did not want to do the
interviewing section though but, recapitulating my thoughts about my earlier years of struggle; I
felt to experience how it felt when individuals had to face interviews. At the end of the day we
all are fighting with ourselves, and people like me left our nations way behind for our sake to
survive.
I was asked by my assistant that there were three people whom I had to interview. I said
that I would be doing so in phases, and would myself fix the dates when I would interview them.
The first individual I was supposed to interview; I came to know was one of my distant relatives.
He happened to be my uncle and was completing his masters when I left my country. He is

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almost 50 years old; he worked for quite a few years and then completed his masters. Seeing him
after so many days, I was quite surprised because I never thought that he would leave his country
for work. Well, deep inside I felt that history, as usual, was repeating. Then I asked him about his
projects, his courses and his internships and jobs. He as was elder to me in age and was very
educationally inclined human being; I was nervous at the beginning that I might not be able to
ask him questions which would comply with the post. Although he behaved very grounded yet
confident, which was evident from his end as he had been into work life for may be more years
or for more period than me. So, it did not bother me at all neither did it reflected any
overconfidence sign. He elaborated about his projects, how he was acquainted and knew about
the manufacturing industry, which was impressive enough. After all this, it was quite viable that
he genuinely wanted to share his knowledge with the company. After an hour interview, just like
before when I was in my uncle’s office, the different vibes which I received I did not show even
a bit to him. Instead, I asked him, that his interview was quite valuable, and requested him to
wait. He was nervous though about the result, but I assured him that he should stay tension free
and also consoled him that we were bound as unless the rest two interviewees were left, we could
not let him know. He later on with no further sign of query, accepted. The later day, when I was
in my office, I had to fix the dates of the successive interviews, And above all, I was working for
the betterment of my company, and I had to be crisp in what I was doing. My experience, my
knowledge and my dedication were my pride and letting them work against me; I could not make
that happen (Poon et al 469).
The next day as per scheduled, another interviewee came and coincidently she happened
to be my friend, more of my senior in college. She was of the age of 35. After the end of
Graduation, she completely disappeared. Nobody knew where she was or what she was doing. I

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knew her because she was of my branch in engineering back then and I looked up to her in terms
of any educational help or be it any help concerning any issues in college. Meeting her after such
a long time, we both were surprised and happier. She was probably more comfortable as it
seemed. Before starting our interview session, I asked her whether I knew that I was here
working, she with some awkward paused denied to what I asked. Then and there I understood
that it was not exactly what she said, she probably knew that I worked here and upholding to me
as her roots, she might have left the nation and came to America. This in a way was
commendable that whatsoever she might lie or deny, she, of course, had that zeal in her about
conquering something, and it needs a lot of courage to do so. Gradually we started with our
conversation about the interview, and as usual, just in the way she used to help during our
college days in theoretical studies, her theories of concept were very rigid (Turvey et al 422).
This impressed me a lot, but as per the customs and norms, I also asked her to wait for some time
till the entire interview session ends since there another interviewee left to be interviewed. She
understood and co-operated, her enthusiasm yet reflected in her face, which was a positive vibe
and an excellent reflection to work with.
Then came the last day with the previously scheduled interviewee, shockingly he again
happened to be one of my known people. He was my distant brother from another city. He was
50 years old roughly, though looked way young. To my surprise, I asked about him initially
about what made him leave his nation. His answer was so astonishing that I gave up on
questioning him much and finally decided to hire all the three of them to our reputed company.
All these incidents, are like milestones which I covered in life and experiences which I could
cherish lifetime and above all playing with the feelings of such talented and hardworking people

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would be very wrong and shameful when I knew that they all fulfilled the qualities we were
searching for. This is how it ended and made me, CEO Jun Yin learn several lessons in life.

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