Allie Tan

UNIV

Family Interview Essay

For this specific assignment, I decided to interview my dad. The idea of culture is

something practically every member of my family honors and values. What defines culture for

him is the various aspects that made up his life back in the Philippines. These aspects include the

language spoken, religious values, and home cuisine. In my fathers case, the language spoken is

Tagalog, one of the many spoken dialects of the Philippines. This aspect is clearly very important

to both of my parents as this is one of the prominent languages spoken in my household. Along

with that, one of the aspects that many filipinos, including my father, hold close to them is the

cuisine from their native country. To my father, it is one of the aspects that will always help to

remind him of his past and where he came from; something as simple as a filipino dish from his

childhood or earlier years. One of the strengths my dad mentioned from his culture was the pride

and connection people that share this culture have. In other words, like my father, many people

hold their culture close to them and let it define their lives in a positive manner. To this day, my

father still holds immense love for his culture and continues to view it in an tremendously,

unyielding positive light.

Furthermore, I chose my father for this interview for various reasons. My father

has always been one of my biggest role models, and one of the people Ive always looked up to.

Like my father looked up to his parents for their values and beliefs, Ive always looked up to my

father for his strength, compassion, and positivity.

My family originated in the Philippines and my father, mother, and older brother

immigrated to the United States during the mid 90s. My parents reasons were similar to most

others who have gone through the same experience; opportunity and a new beginning. Like
many others, my family flew here with little to their name. The way my family was able to build

an amazing life from scratch is still something I admire to this very day. Their strength to this

day still amazes me.

In regards of my fathers college experience and education level, my father

attended a university, earned his bachelors degree, and went on to grad school to pursue his goal

of becoming a registered nurse, an RN. With that being said, my dad made the decision to attend

college in order to further his education level. In other words, he went through college to obtain

his goal of pursuing an occupation within the medical field. My dad participated in various

recreational clubs; with his favorite ones being soccer and volunteer work/ opportunities. To this

day, he still speaks fondly of his college experience; seeing it as a time of his life filled with

tremendous growth and once in a lifetime experiences. For a good portion of his life, college was

always one of my fathers personal goals. He says that he would not be the person he is today

had it not been for all the good and even not so positive experiences throughout his college and

post-graduation years.

My father has always been a very caring and helpful person. With that being said,

one of his favorite things was giving back to the community and, in general, helping others out.

This was one of the many reasons why he decided to take part in many volunteering clubs in the

Philippines. Without surprise, this eventually led to my father pursuing a career in the medical

field; nursing. In addition to my father, my grandparents on my fathers side were very helpful

and philanthropic people. As things go, these traits ended up being passed down to my father,

who greatly admired the good nature of his parents. With all this being said, while my father did

know he wanted to pursue an occupation within the medical field, it took quite some time to

actually figure out just what occupation he truly wanted to pursue. Deciding to pursue nursing
was not an easy decision, but his various positive influences around him eventually helped

solidify his decision. This is due to the fact that many of the people around him were a part of the

medical field, whether it included nursing or being a physician.

My fathers mentors/ role models were undoubtedly his parents. As previously

mentioned, he had always greatly admired the compassion and philanthropic attitudes his parents

embodied. He stated that that no matter how rocky life got at times, especially in the earlier days,

both his mom and dad always managed to stay positive and continue on with unwavering

strength. He admires how they were able to start a life from square one and prosper from there.

My father said that, without a doubt, his parents play a huge part in the person he has become

today.

During difficult times, my father reaches out to immediate family, and any

siblings or close relatives. With that being said, when my father was a child, his immediate

people for support were his parents. His difficult times then and now, are most likely similar

experiences that almost every person goes through. One of the more significant ones involves

moving to the United States during his early 20s. Starting from scratch, for practically anyone,

can be a particularly difficult experience; especially when this experiences involves a whole new

continent, let alone a new country. During this time of growth in my fathers life, he turned to my

mother and my grandparents for support and advice in general. In other words, together, my

mother and father built a foundation for future success in this new country.

When my father was my age, one of his most memorable/life changing

experiences involved graduating HS, and beginning his new life in college. That specific

experience greatly resonates with me for obvious reasons. This period of time was significant to

my dad for many reasons, but the most important one is that college helped him discover who he
was as a person. Along with that, it was during this period of his life that he decided what he

wanted to spend the rest of life doing: helping out by becoming a registered nurse. Due to all of

this, my father states that he is forever grateful for everything that his college experience gave

him.

APPENDIX

Why did you choose this person for the interview?

Family origins/ancestral history/immigration history. Why, when (need not be

specific dates) and how did your family arrive to the U.S.?
Culture: What defines culture for you? How does this family member define

his/her culture? Explain the strengths/beauty/richness found in your culture.

College: Does this family member have at minimum a bachelors degree? If yes,

explain their college experience. Why did they go to college? What student groups or
activities did they participate in while there? If no, explain why not? Would this person

have liked to have a bachelors degree? Why or why not?

How he/she chose a career path, and what directed him/her towards that path
Does he/she have a mentor or hero/heroine?
Who does he/she reach out to for support during difficult times? What have been

some of those difficult times?

When he/she was your age what was a favorite song, restaurant, and/or

meaningful experience, expected or unexpected, life experiences that shaped who he/she

is today.