For this assignment, I interviewed a friend of mine who grew up in a family who does not speak English as their first language. Her parents are both immigrants from Mexico, and I was able to learn about the ways that her background is different from mine.

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Interview Paper
Morgan Sanders
COUN 535 Multicultural Counseling
Summer 2020
Dr. Tara Wilson

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a. Introduction and background Information
I. Date of Interview: June 10, 2020
II. Age: 23
III. Gender: Female
IV. Birthplace: Cheyenne Wyoming
V. Ethnicity/Nationality: Hispanic/Mexican American
VI. Current and Past Partner/Marital Status: Single
VII. Community of Current Residence: Cheyenne, Wyoming
VIII. Past Residences: Cheyenne, Wyoming and Laramie, Wyoming
IX. Brief Educational History:
i. HS: Cheyenne East High School, graduate of IB Diploma Program
ii. Earned a bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in statistics through
the University of Wyoming
b. Pertinent Questions:
1. What do you know about your birth?
a. Mom was 32 and Dad was 40
b. They were living in Cheyenne for a year or two
c. They lived in Downtown Cheyenne and were married
d. She is the first born
e. Her mom stayed at home to work. Dad works to provide as a concrete finisher.
f. Mom did not speak or understand English. Dad is proficient in English.
g. Parents are from Mexico.
i. Mom, born and raised. Left Mexico when she was 30. Came to US on a
working Visa
ii. Dad moved to the United States when he was 18.
2. What is your concept of family?
a. Family is for unconditional, emotional, and financial support
b. Family members are different and need to understand where each other is
coming from
c. Be excepting of the criticisms of your family members.
3. How are you the same as you were when you were a child or adolescent?
a. She is very reserved, does not like sharing her emotions, keeps to herself a lot,
independent, gets frustrated when she does not get things right the first time
around, likes nature
4. How are you different?
a. She understands that there are some things in life that are out of your control,
need to take the things that happen in life, trying to break out of perfection, life
is what it is
5. What primary factors have influenced the way you are?
a. Her parents, living in a country that her parents are not from, striving for
perfection comes from working hard with parents who immigrated, faith (her
parents encouraged her to have faith and be close to God)

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6. What historical or cultural events have had a profound influence on you?
a. Technology boom has been rough. Her parents are baby boomers and they are
not literate in technology.
b. Has been tough for her and her brother because they must help them out quite a
bit
7. What are the major sources of satisfaction in your life at present?
a. Being healthy
b. Faith
c. Learning (lifelong learner)
8. What are the major stressors in your life and what challenges in personal
development/identity are you facing right now?
a. Uncertainty in economic
b. Being Hispanic
9. What challenges and changes do you foresee for yourself in the next 10 years?
a. Finding a job
b. Proving herself as a professional
c. Being Hispanic female presents challenges that makes her want to prove
herself
10. What role does spirituality or religion play in your life?
a. It is her life
b. She tries to be rooted in her faith
c. You attend church most Sundays and on Wednesday nights
d. She volunteers at church in the sound booth
11. What thoughts do you have about the end of your life?
a. By the time she reaches that point, she would like to look back at her life and
be content about what she has done
b. Be proud about the person that she has become
c. She would like to reach peak gratefulness
d. She is extremely optimistic for the end
12. What is the strongest developmental influence for you?
a. Faith in God
b. Being raised in Wyoming was nice because of a smaller community
c. Attending UW and having the support of family
13. What would you like your ancestors and future generations to know about you?
a. Someone who cared about others
b. Someone who is proud of where they came from
14. What would you like to know about your ancestors and future generations?
a. Her grandmother lived in a poor community
i. She taught people how to read and write in Spanish
ii. My friend wants to know what compelled her to do this
b. Her ancestors faced a lot of poverty and injustice
i. How were they able to raise her parents in such a strong way?
c. Her mom grew up more well-off, however, her dad grew up poor

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c. Reflection
There were many surprising things during my interview with my friend. As I discussed her
background, I realized she is a selfless person who cares deeply about her family. While I was
not surprised about how close she is to her parents and brother, I was surprised to hear how
normal it was for her to grow up in a bilingual home. Her first language is Spanish; however, she
is also fluent in English and French. She described times where it was highly challenging to try
and balance her life as a high school student, then help her parents by translating important
documents from companies or the bank. As she was describing this experience, I just saw care
and love in her eyes. I am sure that moments like this as a child and teenager contributed to my
friend being a highly mature and responsible person. I was genuinely surprised to hear about how
much she would have to help her parents learn English and help them navigate through their bills
and other essential parts of living. The main difference between my friend and I is how we were
raised. My parents taught me so much and I have not had the opportunity to teach them much.
But my friend spent a lot of her childhood and teen years teaching her parents how to speak a
language. I am so impressed by this because I cannot imagine trying to help my parents with a
task like this.
I would say that main issue that arose during our interview was my inability to emphasize
with my friend. I grew up in a separate way and I only know the basics of Spanish. However, my
friend had many responsibilities at an early age that I did not have to experience. As a counselor,
it was challenging to counsel/interview someone who is the same age as me but has completely
different life experiences. I know that a counselor and client relationship is different than many
relationships, but I think it would be difficult to try and counsel a person who is the same age as
me. It would be difficult to not relate to that person on a more personal or friendly level.

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I believe it would be beneficial to use this experience to grow my friendships with people my
own age. I have many friends who are older than I am, so I think it would challenge me to learn
how to work with people who are my age. Even though I plan on being a high school counselor,
I still believe I would benefit from learning how to counsel and work with people who are
around the same age as me.
I can also use this experience to help consider what some students could be going through at
home. I know many teachers and other school staff think students are not getting their homework
assignments done because they are just slacking off; however, I am sure there are many students
across the country who are going through a similar experience like my friend went through.
Therefore, as a future school counselor, I want to use this experience to work hard to build strong
relationships with the students I work with. As I learn valuable information about bilingual
students, I will be sure to communicate the needs of the students with their teachers to get the
student as much support as possible.
My friend and I went to high school together and I remember there were several times where
I wanted to hang out with her after school. However, she said many times, “I am going to go
home to be with my family”. There are so many teenagers who do not have a positive home life
or a close relationship with their parents. But my friend loves her family so much and I finally
understand why she valued the time she would spend with them after school. Since she told me
about the amount of responsibility and commitment she had as a young girl helping her family
with English, I can see why she would be so close to her parents. It has made me think about the
students I have in my classroom. I am sure it is hard for them to not participate in extracurricular
activities when they are so much responsibility at home. Further, I can only imagine the bond
you would have with your parents after helping them learn and grow as American citizens.