In Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass’, the looking glass acts as a portal to a chaotic world where nothing is the same. Alice, the main character, is thrown out of her comfort zone and into a topsy-turvy world with sentient chess pieces where left is right and running makes you stay in place. This “alternate universe” concept might sound fantastical on the surface, but deeper analysis leads to an understanding of the real-world realities it can metaphorically represent. For instance, immigrants can go through a kind of “alternate universe” as they transition from one place to the next and get used to two different worlds—their home country and host country—which is tricky and difficult. From language barriers to cultural shocks, immigrants learn to work with their new surroundings, and for their children, it’s no different.
Freshman Thu Lei, whose parents came to the U.S. from Myanmar due to the ongoing civil war, said that her parents moved because they hoped for a better future. As a result, she says she considers herself to be more aware about living in tough times. This awareness, she says, also comes from her experience living in Oakland before moving to Moraga. “I feel like kids in Oakland are more aware of the struggles of being an immigrant,” Lei says when asked about the differences between the two cities.
Lei said that some kids here are “a bit more sheltered,” and that they don’t exactly understand the troubles that come with being an immigrant. Lei says that when you’re from a poorer background, you learn to be more grateful for things compared to people from wealthier backgrounds. “If you’re from a poorer country, you learn to appreciate what you have because nothing is certain…but if you’re more rich, you kinda take everything for granted,” she said.
This same sentiment arose in freshman Ify Anagor-Folarin who immigrated from Nigeria in 2016. Moving to the United States to join her parents, who immigrated earlier to enroll in college, she describes her experience as more humble compared to others because of her first-hand international experience.
Anagor-Folarin said that if she had stayed in Nigeria, racism wouldn’t have affected her as much as it does in Lamorinda because in Nigeria, the majority of the population is ethnically Nigerian. Xenophobia and racism, things that affect immigrants years after they’ve already adapted to their host country’s cultures, still shake their worldview and remind them of their “looking glass” reality.
Senior Ori Rodgers, who immigrated from England around 2012, experiences immigrant life a bit differently. Being from a western English-speaking country they had a different experience than Anagor-Folarin. Rodgers says their biggest struggle as an immigrant was getting used to American English.
Whether you define a first generation immigrant as someone who came to the U.S. as a child or a child of immigrant parents, they share some similar experiences. Their identities are rarely concrete; they become shaped by their differing cultures at home and at school. Whether they have become used to the divide of their identities or not, these first generation immigrants have learned to live in a cultural limbo.
Sophomore Airis Lomeli, on the other hand, is a second generation immigrant, whose grandparents came to the U.S. from Mexico in the late 1960s. Lomeli honors her heritage by celebrating Dia de los Muertos, a holiday to commemorate the dead, and by eating Mexican food many times a week. “I’ve lived in multiple different cities in California, like Fresno, and two cities in Idaho,” she said. Because Fresno has a large Hispanic population, she mentioned that when she talks about her culture, the reactions she receives there are different from the ones she receives in Lamorinda. “When I try to explain my culture, [my classmates here] are like “‘eww, that’s so gross’.”
Anagor-Folarin and Rodgers agree that parenting philosophies differ from their cultures compared to their experiences with American culture. Rodgers said they “feel like in the U.S., people are terrified of public transport” and that “parents never really want their kids to walk to school, or to be independent.” Rodgers said that in England, kids are more independent and “there’s a pretty huge push for kids to be as independent as possible.”
Anagor-Folarin said that because Nigerians are hard workers, they have a harder parenting style. “Americans kinda sugarcoat it, and in America if another adult wants to educate your kid, it’s seen as disrespectful…but in Nigeria, parents are grateful for that,” she said.
These different perspectives show that living between and within different cultures involves navigating different cultural expectations, social norms, and environments. First-generation students adjust to new societies while keeping cultural traditions; they layer their new experiences on top of each other to keep their own sense of self. Second-generation students preserve their cultural identities and navigate through societies already known to them. Both experiences balance multiple perspectives from grandparents, friends, and larger communities.
