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Introduction
Introduction
For my MeSearch product in U.S. History, I chose to research my mother Maria Lizardo-Guzman (1976-). I selected my mother because I knew she had came to the US at a very young age and I wanted to know more about her experience, especially during the time period. In preparation for this project I interviewed my mom twice not only about her experience coming to the US but also her childhood and life in the Dominican Republic. I also did research on the condition of the Dominican Republic to learn more about why she wanted to leave and live a new life in the US. I discovered how the country was in poverty and there weren't many opportunities as jobs were paying extremely low wages. I also learned how the reason why the country was in such extreme poverty was because there were two terrible hurricanes, hurricanes David and Fredrick. One new fact I learned about my mom was that she was working when 9/11 had occurred and her shift never ended, she just continued her day at her job. I also learned that she went to school for baking, alongside going to school to become an ultrasound technician, because she was very passionate about baking. One interesting fact I learned about my family in general was how many of my ancestors originated from Spain due to the colonization of the Dominican Republic.
A Brief Biography
A Brief Biography
Maria Lizardo-Guzman was born on February 6,1976 in Moca, Dominican Republic. Her father, Rafael Lizardo was 23 at the time of her birth and her mother, Celia Guzman was 20. She was the oldest of two daughters. Maria chose to leave the Dominican Republic because she wanted more for herself and her family. The country was in terrible conditions as two hurricanes had just hit the island and destroyed over 200,000 homes and destroyed over $1 billion dollars worth of property. Wages for jobs were also really low and Maria had a passion to grow up and become successful enough to provide for her parents and help them. Therefore she wanted to begin a new life in a country with a wider variety of opportunities and chances. When she came to the US she immediately came to New York and found a job so that she could make money to pay for her necessities. Along with that she began going to school to become an ultrasound technician. Her dream was to have a career to help her family and have a family of her own.
Maria met her husband, Arnaldo Soto, in October of 1995. She met him through her cousin who had been a close friend with him for years. Arnaldo had also came to the US from the Dominican Republic because his parents wanted him to have a successful future, he finished highschool in DR and started his career in the US. Once they had both finished school they began their careers, Maria became an ultrasound technician, and Arnaldo began working for MTA as a bus driver. Around a year later they decided to settle down and start a family where they had one daughter.
Maria has always been hardworking and determined as she always wanted to be successful and help her parents. While in DR she always stayed on top of her chores and what she had to do to make her parents' lives easier and not more difficult than they already were. On top of school and chores she'd take care of her little sister as well. Religion has also always been a big part of her life, she grew up believing in God and going to a Christian school and Church. When things would get difficult she would turn to God. Her favorite hobby was baking, apart from going to school and achieving her dreams she also wanted to be a baker. And she even got to go to school for it.
Maria and Arnaldo (1998)
Maria at her quince (1991)
How does your individual family member’s story help you to understand the American Dream?
Maria is incredibly grateful for her experience in the US and being able to achieve her version of the American Dream. She describes it as, “This country provides many opportunities for everyone, and while yes, most people want to be successful and live the best like in the US, others have different dreams. Not everyone wants to work or have a family so I can't say the American Dream is just one specific dream. But for me it meant achieving new and more opportunities than my parents could and while doing that helping and providing for my parents. I really wanted to go to school and have a career I was passionate about and once I finished that I chose to have a family of my own because I knew I always wanted a child to call my own and to have my own home with my own family.”
Maria's story helped me understand how important it is to be determined and not give up on your dreams. Her story showed me how hard working she was, the way she put her dreams and what she wanted before everything was very inspiring. How she was able to make the decision to leave her family and come to the US all alone at 17, and navigate her life all alone with school and work. It's inspiring because I'm about the age she was when she left and I can't imagine leaving my family to go to a foreign country. This story allows me to have a deeper understanding about the American Dream because every individual's perspective on this dream is different and many want different things, but it proved to me that it's possible to achieve the American Dream as long as you're set on what you want and determined enough to reach it.
Excerpt from narrative essay
Excerpt from narrative essay
"Little did Maria know she would experience something so horrific during her first years in the United States. On September 11, 2001 Maria had just arrived at work and was beginning her shift when she began seeing smoke outside the window. She discovered over the radio that a terrorist attack had just occurred with a hijacked plane crashing into one of the twin towers. A few minutes later the second plane crashed into the south building, destroying the twin towers and taking the life of almost 3,000 individuals. "
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