By: Monica Peralez
Andrea Harvey is a Junior who attends the University of Oregon. She is a Journalism major who hopes to keep her family tradition of storytelling alive through writing. Her mother was born in Mexico, however, Andrea was born in the U.S. and identifies more with American culture, but still thinks it is important to learn about her Mexican roots and heritage.
When people ask you what ethnicity you are, what do you say?
When people ask me what ethnicity I am I usually say I’m Mexican and a little bit German and Irish. Most of my family is Mexican so I feel like I identify myself most with that side of the family.
Do you identify with being American more or by your family’s culture?
Usually I say I am American most of the time although the majority of my family is Mexican.
Do you feel it is important to keep connected with your family’s culture and why?
Yes, I do feel like its important to keep connected with my family’s culture because I think it’s important for everyone to know where he or she came from. I think it is also important to know how you got where you are and for people to get to know their family more. It’s awesome to hear what your family did to get to America or what it was like just adjusting to American life.
Do you speak Spanish?
I do not speak Spanish but I wish that I did because then I would be able to talk to my family in Spanish. It would have been a better language to learn because I could have practiced with them. It could have been another opportunity to bond with them in that way. But yeah I took French in high school and Italian for 2 years in college and that’s honestly one of my regrets I wish I took Spanish instead.
Do you feel like you have more opportunity than your family members from generations before and in what way?
Yeah I do feel like I have a lot more opportunity. I am one of the few kids in my family to actually go to college. I definitely feel like I am a lot more privileged. My mom, she didn’t go to college but she got lucky with her job and is a really hard worker so I was able to go to college because of that.
How do you define success for yourself and how do you think that differs from your parents’ view?
My parents grew up in a less fortunate household. My grandpa and my grandma didn’t make that much money so they couldn’t support her very well and couldn’t pay for her to go to college. But I think that growing up the way she did, she would probably define success in terms of how much money she makes just because that was the hardest struggle when they were growing up. For me I think success would be, you know, how happy I am with what I’m doing and whether or not I am meeting my goals.
Do you have any future plans? How does being Journalism major fit into your identity?
My grandparents always try and write books about their lives so writing is definitely a tradition in my family. I want to work as a features writer or editorial writer for either a magazine or a newspaper in Portland preferably so I can keep my family’s storytelling tradition alive.