Rose Aguda: oral history with Johnson Vu, Abigail Riggs, Grace Yi, Anthony Zou, Tenzin Tsedon
Description:
She immigrated to the Unitetd States from the Philippines when she was 38 years old along with her husband and three children. Ms. Aguda was born in the Philippines in Ilocos Norte which is the biggest island of the Philippines, she graduated from Philippine Normal College with a degree in education because of the financial help from her siblings and relatives. While she had a good life in the Philippines, she always wondered about the United States and wanted to give her children more opportunities to better themselves. So, when the United States opened up the third preference for professionals, they decided to move. Ms. Aguda remembers lining up around the US Embassy in Manila, holding her diplomas, birth certificate, and NBI clearance. Even still, it took her and her family two years to come to the United States. They first settled in Honolulu, Hawaii. There, the culture was not much different than the Philippines. However, coming to Westfield was a huge shock. When they arrived there were no oriental food stores here. Ms. Aguda used to go to New York or New Jersey or Boston to buy oriental foods. She also had to adjust to the climate change and learn how to dress for cold winters. Because the Philippine educational system is patterned after United States educational system, she grew up speaking English and never had a hard time with it except when it came to her accent. Her and her family still continue their culture and religion is very important to her. Now that she has retired, Ms. Aguda is a member of the Westfield Senior Center, Doe Ray Me glee club and the St Mary's Catholic Adult Choir. She says these organizations “broadens your outlook in life” and that there needs to be more of a dialogue between the Filipino community and academia representatives.
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