My family has an interesting story about coming to America. My father grew up in a big family in the Philippines, with my grandmother who we call “Lola.'' She had 10 kids, all of whom had to do chores around the house to keep the family going. My mother had a tight relationship with her parents, despite having 2 brothers and sisters. After my parents got married, things slowed down and my family was waiting for things to happen.

My father's side of the family decided that they wanted to move. Of course, not everyone in the family agreed, but 8 out of the 10 children, including my Grandmother and Grandfather had moved to 'Oahu. The biggest problem was that if my father wanted to move to America, my mother had to do the same. Other family members had the same conflict, causing them to be separated and scattered across the whole world. It was a big ask for my mother, but she agreed to it, moving in with her mother nearby. My (nuclear) family moved into America blindly, barely knowing any English, which made me, the first generation of our family to be born in America, interesting.

My family has lived in Hawaii for a few years now. We have all learned English and the cultural traditions of Americans. Living in Hawai'i, I’ve met other people who have had similar experiences to me. I do think that Hawai'i is very inclusive with their variety of cultures throughout the islands. There have been a few cases where some people thought that English wasn't my first language. I’ve also had an experience where someone assumed that I was a different nationality. Despite those experiences, there are a lot of people in Hawai'i who have become quick friends with my family because of the acceptance of diverse nationalities. We have made especially fast friends with those that are from the same country as us.

Our experience living in Hawaii has been progressively easier the more we got comfortable in the new environment. We are still a somewhat traditional Filipino family in terms of food, language, and culture, but we have been adapting to the new American culture and enjoy being in America.

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