I Am An Immigrant – Voices

The biggest challenge I’ve ever faced is being judged, based on my experience, of who I am, which is completely racist. Just because of that, people will talk to you differently. When I first meet someone new, I am always stereotyped. That gives me a disadvantage when I want to make friends, I am interviewing for a job or when I am just networking to get to know someone. People do not realize sometimes that they are being judgmental. They just do it subconsciously. My parents came from Japan. We are very hard-working citizens. And we always think of ways to improve. I am super diligent and hard-working. If you look at my relatives, they are the same way. Everybody else is working hard. If you don’t work, you will be looked at as a fool. Being overworked is a terrible thing. Many Japanese people commit suicide just because of that. So, being here in the U.S., there’s definitely less pressure. I like that here you have freedom of choice. Whether you decide to work hard or not is your personal choice and no one judges for that. But in Japan, people that do not work hard are judged harshly. It’s tough. I am glad I am here. I wouldn’t be able to deal with that.