Project of the Skyline College/North San Mateo County Oral History Archives, Skyline College Library
Student project for LSCI 110 – Digital Oral Research Project, Skyline College

Struggles searching for better opportunities: 
Vanessa Orozco

By: Hector Orozco

Click here to read to read the research essay, “Responsibilities of an Immigrant”, by Hector Orozco

 

Click on the links below to hear audio segments of the interview on April 25, 2005 by Hector Orozco with Vanessa Orozco.  She is a great person who fought very hard from the first day she came to the United States to overcome obstacles in her way through success.  She is an immigrant who had to leave her native country Mexico to look for better opportunities and so she could help her family overcome the financial problems they were having.

 

Vanessa’s Town, Tenamaxtlan, Jalisco Mexico in 1938

 


Map of Tenamaxtlan, Jalisco Mexico

Table of Contents:

1. Going Back and Forward

2. Looking for Better Opportunities

3. Responsible of her family

4. The reason she came back to the U.S.

5. Obstacles trying to get her education

6. Story of her Childhood

7. Hobbies

8. Goals for the Future

 

 

 

 

It is hard for someone to leave one place and have to adapt to another.

Going Back and Forward
Since Vanessa was in her childhood, she had to suffer the consequences of having to change places and going from one culture to another.

 

 

 

Back to Table of Contents

 

 

The best option for her was to immigrate to another country, so she would have better opportunities, which she opted for the United States.

Looking for Better Opportunities
In this audio Vanessa tells how she was looking for a better life and how she struggled trying to do it.

 

 

 

Mixing two different cultures

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The responsibilities that an immigrant has to face when it comes to help her family and her self are different depending on the person, but some people have different responsibilities as is in the case of Vanessa.  She has to take care of her siblings and be in the role of a mother for them.

Responsibilities

In this audio segment she tells how hard is for her to be responsible of her siblings.

Vanessa is on the left, her uncle Alfredo is sitting, on the back is her brother Hector, and at the right is her sister Cynthia

 

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Coming back from Mexico
Vanessa went with her parents back to Mexico, but when she was older she came back to the United States and then helped her siblings come and make their way through success.

Vanessa with her siblings in San Francisco

 

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Trying to get her education

 

It is hard for an immigrant to get their education, and also because of the barrier of the language.

 

 

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When she was a child
Here Vanessa tells a story of Vanessa’s childhood

 

 

 

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Hobbies
One of Vanessa’s hobbies is to cook,
she said that even though she has to do it as an obligation, she enjoys doing it. 

Vanessa cooking for the family

 

 

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Future
In this audio Vanessa tells her dreams, how she wants her future, and her goals in school.

 

 

 

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Image sources:


Title: http://www.geocities.com/tenamax/

 

Title: http://fortalecimientomunicipal.jalisco.gob.mx/Monografias/Tenamaxtlan.htm

 

 

*These audio files may be played with Windows Media Player or Real Player.
To download a free copy of Windows Media Player, click here.
To download a free copy of Real Player, click here.

last revised: 5-23-05
by Eric Brenner, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA
These materials may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as: North San Mateo County Oral History Archives, Skyline College Library. All commercial rights are reserved. To contact the author, or send comments or suggestions, email: Eric Brenner at: brenner@smccd.net