Immigration nation

The Messenger looks at three generations of immigrants

Sanjana Gopu, Staff Writer, and Grace Peng, Managing Online Editor

Northview’s diversity is seemingly a center point of pride. The student body has more people of color and recent-generation immigrants, and in most cases that is thought of as a positive glimpse into the upcoming generation, but there are also roots in what is considered a “traditional” white high school. Such a wide array of backgrounds is an inevitable clash of traces of numerous ethnic groups - an unavoidable case of multiculturalism. 

“I do not think we have succeeded [in creating a positive multicultural environment],” Principal Brian Downey said. “Just having that diversity of experiences, and perspectives that you can bring into a room to help problem-solve something or to plan for something is so necessary. But I don't know if we do enough to recognize, celebrate, and support every demographic in our building.”

This need to place a focus on different demographics highlights the many unknown struggles that each group faces that are often unnoticed in the face of Northview’s academic intensity. Rarely does one look at the other side of the story, of the struggles and perils that these young adults face. 

First Generation: 

For junior Jessie Jia, the move from one country to another has been both a joy and a struggle.

Photo courtesy of Jessie Jia

As junior Jessie Jia reveals, the move from one country to another is no easy feat. The logistics that come behind it, the planning for every step of the way, the linguistic, clothing, and behavioral unknowns that come with being thrust into a brand new country are struggles that are worth it in the long term. When Jia moved from China to the US in the eighth grade, she experienced many of these obstacles which she had to overcome. 

“It’s been very hard but my parents and I have managed,” Jia said. “I have lots of friends who help me, too.” 

The hardest part of her move was learning another language. Compared to Chinese, English is another endeavor in itself, as the grammatical rules, alphabet, and common phrases differ starkly because it is from an entirely separate language family. 

“I took some English classes in China, so I knew how to read and write, but it’s not like actually being in America. It was much faster for me to learn English when I was here than when I was there,” Jia said.

One positive aspect she notes about coming to America was how friendly and welcoming the people were, especially in the Johns Creek area. Another positive element was the ability to celebrate multiple holidays. 

“At home, we have holidays like Chinese New Year and the [Mid-Autumn] Moon Festival. Over here, I found out different ways to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and July Fourth.” Jia said.

Most importantly, though,  she admires the schools here and hopes the obstacles she faced during her move to America mean she can have a better future than before.

Second Generation:

Like many students, sophomore Rhea Sharma, a second-generation immigrants, has learned to identify with multiple cultures.

Photo courtesy of Rhea Sharma

For sophomore Rhea Sharma, being a second-generation immigrant means being stuck in a perpetual identity crisis between two cultures. Before moving to Johns Creek, Sharma was raised in a predominantly white suburban area in which assimilation between her own home life and school life was near impossible. 

“It's not possible for me to be white because my home life is so much different than what I experienced. It’s the little things that pointed out the biggest differences, so it felt really alien,” Sharma said. “I think one of the most common examples would be bringing Indian food to lunch. When other people would literally bring their leftovers, it wouldn't matter, but if you bring your [ethnic] food to school, suddenly there's a bunch of questions about it.”

Food is not the only discrepancy between Sharma’s life and the lives of her peers that draws looks or unwanted attention. Another minute difference was the fact that Sharma’s parents had accents when speaking English, while others’ parents did not. Or the fact that Sharma received stares and comments while listening to Hindi songs on Spotify, but never the same reaction when listening to pop. However, she has learned from those experiences, and now adopts a different mindset on others’ perception of her culture. 

“I regret trying to push that side of me apart, simply because the environment I was in didn't necessarily approve of it,” Sharma said. “But I wish I didn't seek their approval and just did what I wanted to and acted how I wanted to. I feel like I lost so many years just trying to fit in with the rest of my white friends.”

One of the biggest steps for Sharma in finding peace between her home life and school life has been the move to Johns Creek. Although the community is strikingly different in terms of demographics from the rest of America, it has allowed Sharma to connect with people who face similar struggles and mature into someone who is more tolerant of different backgrounds. 

“Being around this many Asian people, it's just been a lot easier on me than somebody who doesn't have as many people who are also second-gen immigrants from Asia,” Sharma said.

The search for balance between her two cultural identities has been long, but Sharma has at last found a compromise between her two lives. 

“The two sides, although they combat a lot, it’s molded my heritage into a different way I view it,” Sharma said. “It's not the same way my parents view it, obviously, because they grew up in India and [are] first-generation. But since I've grown up here, I just have a different version of it.  I'm always going to have it, it's just going to be really different from the people generations before me, or even other people in my generation.”

Third Generation:

As she grows older, junior Michaela Nolen learns to appreciate her cultural roots more and more.

Photo courtesy of Michaela Nolen

Although third-generation immigrants do not face as direct of a cultural connection to their immigrant roots, that is not to say they have collapsed all struggles altogether. For junior Michaela Nolen, she, too, notes differences between her own life, the “traditional” American norm, and any more recent-gen immigrant families. 

“Some major differences are just that others families were able to have a [more] secure past in America while [more recent-gen] families were struggling and figuring out how to make things easier for the rest of their family,” Nolen said. “We were taught how to deal with different experiences and to not judge anybody because we have no idea what they have going on in their life.”

However, one similarity that she notes between the stories of all immigrants is the spirit of betterment. America is a country with an education like no other and freedoms that are not often enjoyed in most countries, and these opportunities are a near-universal incentive for emigration from any family’s country of origin.

“I think that we just experience hearing stories of what our family went through and what they had to do to come to America to have a better life,“ Nolen said. “There are struggles with school mainly and pushing myself and pressuring myself to do better so that I can have a secure future.”

But despite having parents who grew up here, Nolen still experiences some forms of disconnect with her peers. As a third-generation immigrant, her parents have likely had Sharma’s case of an identity crisis, so her childhood only showed a glimpse into those cultures. However, as she is growing up and maturing, Nolen has expressed a deeper appreciation. 

“My experience with my culture in the past was that I didn’t really pay much attention to it when I was younger but I’m glad that my family kept it as a main point in my life and now I’ve learned to appreciate it more and embrace it more,” Nolen said.