Assignment

I’m currently work at the bank and I was lucky to interview my coworker Mr. Ortiz at work. He came from Africa, started school in Carolina, and have been working at the bank for 20 years.

Interviewer: Hello, Mr. Ortiz, how are you and where are you from?

Interviewee: I am good, and I came from Africa.

Interviewer: Mr. Ortiz, what can you remember about your childhood?

Interviewee: I can remember several things, mostly the journey that we took from Africa Egypt to this place. I cannot recall the years better, but then I was very young.

Interviewer: Mr. Ortiz, where did you live, and where did you go to school?

Interviewee I came here very young, and since in Africa, there were no schools I started my school in Carolina, where I was taken to a black school called St Mary. Here there were only black kids and so here is where my life in school started.

Interviewer: What can you remember best about your parents?

Interviewee: my parents were perfect since they supported me fully, especially when I started schooling. Other black parents never took their kids to school since they complained a lot about money, but my parents worked very hard and used their little pay to support me.

Interviewer: What did you and your siblings do in your spare time?

Interviewee: mostly in our free time me and my two brothers spent time playing together and sometimes tried to learn English since we talked in our mother language when we came.

Interviewer: Were you an obedient child or a mischievous child?

Interviewee: I was very obedient both at home and even in school. I had several prizes from school for better conduct there. This extended everywhere since anyone above my age could tell me to do something, and I did not look back.

Interviewer: what type of clothes did the children wear then?

Interviewee: most of the children just worn clothes like today, but today there are extensions of what was done then. Fashion only changes, but it was not so different from those years.

Interviewer: Did your family have any unique traditions, such as things that they did on holidays or birthdays?

Interviewee: we celebrated our birthdays each time. My parents, as I told you earlier, did work hard to make sure that we lived a better life.

Interviewer: what about heirlooms? Is there anything handed to you from generation to generation?

Interviewee: there are many things that our father kept on reminding us, and that is the African culture back in Egypt. He also told us to share with our kids, who could later pass it on.

Interviewer: When did you leave home?

Interviewee: I left home after I was through with high school and left for higher education. I was amongst the best in our district, and so I managed to join the University of Chicago, and that was the only time I left home.

Interviewer: How did your life change? Did you feel grown-up? Were you a little scared?

Interviewee: my life changed a lot, and so I knew that things were going to be different. Apart from leaving home, I had never left for any other state. I felt I had not fully grown to be away from my family, but with time I managed it. I was so scared since the school had many whites and since they were the years of segregation I was scared much since I did not know.

Interviewer: what historical events have taken place during your lifetime? The main historical event that took place was the second world war and the cold war.

Interviewer: Do you know were there wars then, natural disasters, or political changes?

Interviewee: Yes, my dad told me there was much war that was going on by that time, most notably the second world war that took place in the years of 1939-1945. Although the US was not actively in the war, it received much pressure from the neighbor countries as well as attacks. Natural disasters that were there was spread of a particular disease that killed many people. I cannot remember what the name was, but it killed many people worldwide. There were political changes that took place where activists urged for freedom and being given equal rights just as the other races.

Interviewee: I was mainly affected by the black activists' work. It made the whites to hate us. We received even more segregation both from the government institutions and from the public. Most of us in the universities felt it even more since we were very few. Another problem was that African-Americans also tortured people who came from Africa.

Interviewer: How old were you when you immigrated to the United States?

Interviewee: I was very young back then. I was around ten years old.

Interviewer: What were your parents do for a living? Did you help them out?

Interviewee: my father worked in a small company that was around the home. My mother had a small shop and a grocery. Sometimes I could help her sell. This were the times that I was free.

Interviewer: Was your family financially stable?

Interviewee: it was not stable when we were growing up since my father did not earn a lot .and yet we spent a lot in school.

Interviewer: What was your first job? How old were you at that time? How did you get that job?

Interviewee: my first job was working in a supermarket as a cashier. By this time, I was 22 years, and I started working at the bank when I was 23 years.

Interviewer: Have you thought about changing your job?

Interviewee: I haven’t thought about this question yet. If so, I have to start my career again.

Interviewer: what different jobs have you had in your life?

Interviewee: I have done several jobs but mainly in supermarkets. I worked as a cashier for the very first time then worked as an accountant in another supermarket.

Interviewer: whom in your family do you resemble?

Interviewee: I exactly look like my mother.

Interviewer: did you know your grandparents?

Interviewee: I did not know any of my grandparents.

Interviewer: where did they live?

Interviewee: they lived in the southern part of Egypt.

Interviewer: what stories can you tell about them?

Interviewee: my father rarely talked about them, and so I knew little about them. The thing I knew was that my grandfather was a businessman and participated in the trans-Atlantic trade.

Interviewer: thank you very much for your time Mr. Ortiz.

Interviewee: You are welcome, thank you for your time too you made me remember a lot.

Interviewee: thank you for the information I am sorry if there is something you remembered and kind of was a pain to you.

Interviewee: no, I am fine.