This Project 'Hit Home For Me'
'My mother was one of the lucky ones, debatably enough, she did cross over unconventionally. However, she obtained her citizenship in 2008, just 5 years after she had me.'
By Erica M. Hayden
OVER THE PAST SEVERAL in this course, I’ve learned a lot. I’m not just speaking based on further exploring my future career in journalism, I’m also speaking on the fact of an ongoing issue that was unbeknownst to me.
I understood that homelessness is an ongoing and growing issue, especially in Chicago where you can see many homeless people down the street without having to walk far. However, with our multimedia project bestowed upon us, I thought this was a great opportunity to get my feet wet in the journalistic sense.
When we were given the opportunity of subtopics, I chose the migrant crisis. I thought it would help me better understand the crisis as a whole, I know many Venezuelans were coming to Chicago- but I had no idea as to why.
As I began my research on the migrant crisis, I was honestly perplexed to see the situation migrants are in. Having to flee their home country due to poverty, war, the high rate of crimes, all similar stories, all the same reasons. I was devastated, but I also felt a sense of guilt.
My mother came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 16 for all the same reasons. High rates of crime, poverty, etc. She came here to make a better life for herself, and to start a family.
My mother was one of the lucky ones, debatably enough, she did cross over unconventionally. However, she obtained her citizenship in 2008, just 5 years after she had me. Along with a family she created and a steady job she obtained; she made it, and she achieved the American dream.
SEEING VENEZUELANS COMING HERE in hopes of the same dream, just for them to be separated from their families, placed in unkept shelters, or forced to live on the streets is utterly ruinous. That could’ve easily been my mom or my family, but it wasn’t. I asked my mother more about how she got here and what it was like.
“Your Tio Chomfo (my uncle) took me here when I was really young, I was so scared- but your Tia Betty (my aunt) had been in America for two months already. She got me a job as a waitress with her, and let me stay with her in a tiny apartment.” Said Teofila Hayden, 53, my mother. “It was hard at first, not having papers, not finishing high school, I almost thought about going back to Mexico- but then I met Lisa’s (my sister) dad and got pregnant; I didn’t want to raise my baby in Mexico. Not with all the violence and hard it was to make an income. So, I stayed.”
At times, I feel ridden with guilt when I hear the stories of the immigrants I met through Casa Esperanza. They may not be the Venezuelans coming to Chicago, however; they’re stories are merely identical. Coming here, no plan, no resources, only the lump sum of money they saved or that is in their pockets. When discussing my plans to write this piece, my professor said that what I may be feeling is survivor’s guilt. Survivor’s guilt trickles down to the response to an event that the individual(s) encounters when exposed to a traumatic event or situation that others did not. I thought it was impossible at first, as many who experience survivor's guilt are veterans, however; the more he explained it the more I could see the connection.
My professor was right, I’m grateful for the life I’ve lived. Sure, it may not have always been sunshine and rainbows, but I had a roof over my head. I had three meals served every day, I had my family, and I was able to get a great education. Not to mention attend college.
I may not always see eye-to-eye with my mother, although I do respect the choices she’s made for her family. Not to mention the courage it took to come to America.
This project has hit home for me. It has made me want to make a difference, and possibly help out the organization I’ve been working with. I may have been lucky, but that also means I can help others to possibly be just as lucky.
Email: ehayden02@mail.roosevelt.edu
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