After arriving in America, where do our immigrants go? And what kind of education do they take as a first step?

Milin Huang
2/12/2015

After arriving in America, where do our immigrants go?  And what kind of education do they take as a first step?

According to a recently published report, newly arrived immigrants are nowadays more educated than they have ever been in the past.  These immigrants are more motivated, and whether it be for themselves or for their children, they are coming to America in order to make a better future. 

In some countries, such as China, current trends suggest that children should begin formal education at an increasingly earlier age.  That being the case, the system sets that age at around two years, and many critics of the idea claim that children are losing their childhood. For that reason, many Chinese parents may decide to leave the country for places like America in order to allow their children the opportunity to enjoy their lives as children and develop a better view of the world than they would back in their home country.

Immigration and similarly related topics have received widespread attention in America. After all, many tax dollars are being spent on programs to help immigrants and ensure that our borders are safe from illegal immigrants.  In regards to those who do arrive legally, proper education and networking play a critical role in helping our new immigrants learn to adapt and become productive members of society. Where do they end up? How do they make a living? Where are they getting educated?

Our journalists went to the Adult Learning Center of Osceola County Florida (ALCO) to investigate. ALCO provides English as a Second Language (ESOL) and General Educational Development (GED) classes among a large variety of classes for adult learners.  The students think that learning and improving their English is the first step to make a connection with society after immigrating to America. The ESOL classes provided by ALCO begin at level 1, and continue until the student has reached level 6, which then transition the student into academic classes.  With the academic classes, students can use their newly acquired English skills to learn real skills that they can use in school and job applications.

ALCO receives immigrants from all around the world, many of which have little English skills.  They explain by learning English, they will open doors to not only be able to communicate with others, but also find a job in America, and even transfer from English learning center to university level classes. However, as learning a language is a long process, they may need to both study and work at the same time.

Our journalists interviewed several newly arrived immigrants and questioned them on their origins, and what their plans are moving forward:

Michelle

Mishelle moved to America with her family from Venezuela.  Although originally she didn’t want to come, her mother convinced her that she could find a better future in America.  After arriving, she enrolled in classes at ALCO to improve her mastery of English, and at the same time, she found work as a Designer’s Assistant making costumes, decorations, and fashionable attires.  She also picked up a second job as a waitress in order to save up money for the future.  She found that American people are generally kind, and much more relaxed than people in her homeland, but she worries that she is often judged based on preconceived notions about her origins. Her next step aspires to get admitted into a university to study Digital Design. 

Kathy

Kathy came with her son from Taiwan to open a new chapter in her life, and has been residing in the United States for 6 months. She is acquiring academic skills at ALCO in order to complete a program at TECO in Medical Coding.

Juliana

Juliana comes from Colombia, and has been living in America for one year.  Back in her home country, she studied industrial engineering for two years, and before completing her degree, moved to America where she has been working to improve her English so she can continue to follow her dreams of becoming an industrial engineer. 

Aldo

Aldo moved to America from Venezuela just six months ago, and in that time he has made headway in his goals to getting a job as a Mechanical Engineer.  He is currently taking advanced English classes at ALCO, and is looking forward to the day he can take academic  classes in at a university level again.

Carolina

Carolina worked as a Lawyer in her home country of Venezuela before she decided to come to America.  At ALCO she has worked on English and academic classes, and is pursuing an associate degree as a Paralegal.

Dodie

Ms. Dodie is an instructor at ALCO where she teaches advanced ESOL and various other academic classes to adults, mostly recently immigrated.  She has worked in the industry for 20 years and has helped and encouraged countless students to take the next step in their lives.  Ms. Dodie works to animate people to improve their English, and take advantage of career centers at the school in order to help students build critical skills in interviewing, resume writing, group work, and negotiating.  The majority of the students are focused on mastering their English in order to land a job to get on their feet, but Dodie maintains that, “students don’t necessarily have to have perfect English, just good enough to take the test, and pass the certification.” Students who come with certifications and training in their home countries are encouraged to continue pursuing their careers by being directed to the appropriate channels where they can adapt their skills to their new environments in America. When students leave her class, she continues to support them by acting as a powerful connection to the rest of society.

Zon

Zon comes from Burma, where she studied medicine for five years out of a seven year program.  Her sister, who had previously gone to America, suddenly presented her with an opportunity to immigrate, and she made the jump.  Living paycheck to paycheck and working in the service  industry, she has bounced in and out of depression, but nevertheless, she continues to attend classes at Valencia where she hopes to complete the necessary prerequisites necessary to advance her dream. Indeed, she dreams of being remembered as a person who will have made medical breakthroughs particularly in the fields of biochemistry and psychiatry. No doubt, someone as busy as her needs to decompress regularly, and she enjoys releasing stress by reading books, writing in her diary, and playing keyboard.

Niurka is a counselor working at Valencia’s East Campus, Niurka, mentioned if you want to attend Valencia, you must either have a HS diploma or GED certification.  However for immigrants the situation may not be so clear cut.  For example, if you cannot get your HS or college transcripts, meaning, you don’t have a four year diploma, then you can try to get a course-by-course evaluation on sites like the World Education Service (wes.org), or Josef Silny & Associates (jsilny.com). Therefore, if you are a college student, but you haven’t finished, then you may have to take some general education classes, such as Humanities, and Language Arts, before you are allowed to transfer to larger universities.

Immigrants are an important part of the American society.  In fact, besides the native Americans, all citizens of the American continents are all either immigrants or descendent of immigrants. Even in the 21st century, America continues to attract many people to start a new life.  Receiving education will become a good step for them to begin living in America.


To see an in-depth interview with one of our featured immigrants, click here.

In-depth Interview with Zon Mimi Thwin

Milin Huang
2/12/2015

Zon has gracefully allowed us to include part of her interview transcript below:

Milinzy:

Why are you here in America?

Zon:

Because I was thrown into this situation and I chose to continue. Sometimes things are not my choice. I was given these situations to deal with. They were opportunities and challenges.

Milinzy:

How do you handle work and study?

Zon:

When I first started my college semester in summer, I took Monday to Thursday morning classes and worked in evening. I didn’t do well at all as my sleep was disrupted. So I switched my work schedule in the summer B [semester], and gave myself one whole day off every week for studying and rest. This fall semester, I separated out school days and work days with one day off. I pay full attention in class, prepare the topic ahead, and try to maintain good sleep. This does not always apply to my last class of the day at night time. When I am tired, I cannot pay full attention. Mainly the deadlines and stress from it help me get things done as I cannot care about perfection at such time. 

Milinzy:
To be able to work less hours to give time for studying, we need to cut expenses. How do you save money?

Zon:

Electricity and food is the most basic expenses. So we save money mainly through these. We don’t do laundry with few clothes to cut frequent laundry trips. We hang them dry instead of using dryer. We do not use AC even on hot days. So we also do not need to [take a] warm shower on those days too. We cook at home and rarely eat outside.

Milinzy:

Do you miss your family and friends?

Zon:

I have [moved on from] those times. I am pretty much occupied to live my life now. I do not currently have many friends because I cannot take the likely coming up stress yet, as I know about my highly sensitive personality. I could not yet spend enough money to socialize, hang out with friends. Neither my family nor my friends could do nothing about my current situation. Emotional support? Meh! Friends could not understand me because this is totally different here. My parents can relieve me sometimes but not in every occasion. My sister has been my only friend and a guidance. I think the ugly truth changed me from indulged, irresponsible, immature person to a more reliable companion for my sister. 

Milinzy: 

You mentioned that you were depressed for some time after arriving.  How did you deal with depression?

Zon:

I searched online for the surest, least painful, and easiest way to [commit] suicide. I know plastic bag suffocation is the easiest [method] and cause of death that is the most so that there will be least trouble for the remaining family members. But I wanted to make sure about the success rate. Nine times out of ten is a failure. The consequence is living the rest of one’s life with [a] damaged brain. The surest way is to shoot [yourself] into the head. I [have tried putting] a pillow on my face and tried suffocating. That is when I realized human beings have a natural instinct and will to survive. I was coward enough to try [with a] gun. I decided, if I do not even mind giving up my life, I will sacrifice myself to give meaning to the people around me. That is how I continued my life and I got a job. No more severe depression. Nothing really could shake me more than when I felt useless and meaningless. All that I have now is some tiredness.

Milinzy:

What differences are there between America and Burma?

Zon:

• America has good facility at school.
• Relaxed posture while in class.
• A lot of land and not dense, mostly there are houses in contrast to compact tight space building in Burma.
• People in Burma do not smile to strangers.
• Racial issue – There are rarely any situations of racism in Burma, although it is made up of 7 major races and more than 300 minor races. People even have great interest and friendliness to those of other ethnicities.
• In my homeland, the family does everything for me. Here, I have to get things done on my own.

With Every Breath He Takes

Author: Milin Huang
Project: Photojournalism
Date: December 01, 2015

Talmadge Bryan was born on a small island off the coast of Nicaragua, by the name of Corn Island, to an English-speaking community at the height of the Great Depression in 1934.  As a boy, he studied hard in his native Corn Island, and when he completed all the classes offered there, he moved to Bluefields, a city on the eastern coast of Nicaragua, to continue his education.  A motivated student, he had a fascination with subjects such as Physical Science, Literature, and Music.  His hard work during is formative years reflected very well on him, and he was invited to study Mechanical Engineering at a vocational school in London.

"I'm very old now, my face is full of wrinkles."

"But I am still happy, because music makes me smile, and I can share it with others."

Between him and his four siblings, Talmadge was the only one who ever studied abroad.  His time in London was spent studying and learning new cultures and meeting people from around the world.  It was at this time that he began to develop an interest in international politics and languages. He picked up some Russian, and although he never achieved fluency, he continued to look for ways to practice. By putting his mechanical engineering to good use, Talmadge learned to configure his radio to pick up signals from all over the world, and he would excitedly show others that he was broadcasting news reports from far off places such as Germany, China, and Russia.

"Since my hands tremble and shake, I need to practice again and again."

"And my wife hears me from the other room and joins me to sing our music together."

"Sometimes I like to sit down and enjoy my family and friends making music."

"But other times the music fills me with the energy to dance!"

"I can no longer wait! I must join them and play!"

While still young, Talmadge developed an ear for music, and became proficient in both the keyboard and the organ.  He often played at church and always aspired to eventually become a choir director.  His dream came true after moving back to Nicaragua, where he met his wife Dina, marrying her in 1957.  Together, they directed their local church choir and performed many hymns.  Talmadge and Dina had five children together, Dina, Talmadge, Susan, Sandy, and Pablo, who all inhereted their parents love for God and music.

"Finally, the day has arrived."

"Together, with my daughter who carries my music..."

"...and my incredible wife..."

No longer working, Talmadge spends his days surrounding himself with the music that he grew up with.  Talmadge has embraced the latest technology to find new music to practice and read on his Apple iPad.  He continues to perform at church, and keeps his life busy researching new music, singing with his wife and family, and religiously watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy on television.

Tiny Glowing Screens

Book "Three" interview

Jazka Prickett

Campus article

Professor William Oelfke, the author of Three, teaches astronomy at Valencia College's Winter Park campus. According to Dr. Oelfke, a Valencia College professor, he has seen more mistrust of science in politics and a growing conflict between different world religions.  Oelfke has a passion for astronomy and teaches it on the Winter Park campus. He has now been able to display his passion in his first new book called, “Three”. He titled it Three because it reflects the many ways that three appears in the story, from the Holy Trinity to chrono-dynamics in physics. His war-gaming scenario relates to the war on terrorism and it completely realistic, though fictional. In addition, all the locations and their associate venues mentioned in the book are real.

He would like for the readers to grasp that love and understanding can lead to peace and cooperation between disparate ideologies. That it’s the only way all earthlings can live together in one community on this small planet. He wants people to consider the power of humility and compassion. That regardless of your faith, if you approach others with love and compassion, you can work together and accomplish great things. If you act out of hatefulness and revenge, you will only cause pain and destruction. Religious fervor can swing either way, and so we must always remember to carefully examine our motives before we act.

This is the hard cover copy of the book Three. 

The book is a science fictional about a professor of History and World Religions, Oliver Saxon. He is also an analyst for Homeland Security. He is not trained as a police officer or investigator, but uses his knowledge to track down three dangerous conspirators. In the process of understanding this conspiracy, he overcomes some of his own misgivings about faith and religion. He finds out that his close friend, Peter Newbury, a famous theorist at Fermilab, has died. His work eventually intertwines with his personal investigation of his friend's death.

The reader is invited to join Oliver and his co-worker Maxine Phillips as they try to find out why Peter was murdered. Through Oliver's knowledge of the Holy Bible, he is able to decipher the reasons behind Peter's death. Maxine and Oliver use their talents to track down the overly religious men who think Science is an act of Satan.

He was able to write this novel on many of his own interests and activities, from singing to the study of symmetry, to taking part in funeral Mass, to studying the nature of gravity waves.

The book he just finished reading is The Martian by Andy Weir. He is now starting to read Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Neal Stephenson is a physicist and he identifies with his point of view and his humor. His books are science-fiction compared to his interest in writing factual mystery/thriller novels, but his attention to detail is inspirational.

Oelfke’s is currently beginning the next novel about Maxine Phillips and Oliver Saxon that begins where Three ended. It will focus more on Maxine and an ancient family curse. It will be entitled Reunion. After that, he plans to complete the series with a third story about Oliver and Max. Beyond that point, he might try to find ideas for a second series with new characters.

He learned how to give voice to each of the characters in a novel so that they are identified by their speech mannerisms. Also, that dialog is the best way to draw a reader into the story. The narrator can tell the story but the characters live the story through dialog.

This novel strongly supports both religion and science. Both science and religion represent mankind’s best attempts to understand God’s creation and man’s place in living in and learning about the universe.

Dr. Oelfke says, "The books that have most influenced my life the most include the Bible and works of fiction that deal with the strength of the human spirit:  classics like The Last of The Mohicans, and Moby Dick."