Oral History Program Giuliana Perona Interviewed by Chelsee Boehm 7 May 2018 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Giuliana Perona Interviewed by Chelsee Boehm 7 May 2018 Copyright © 2018 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The First-Generation Oral History Project began in 2018 in collaboration with Weber State’s First- Generation Club. The commonly accepted definition of a first-generation student is one whose parents/guardians did not earn a Bachelor’s degree. This project was created to capture the experiences of active first-generation students and alumni in an attempt to better understand the challenges that first-gen students face. These interviews explore the difficulties of navigating college, including scholastic and financial hurdles, as well as highlighting current students’ future goals and alumni successes. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Perona, Giuliana, an oral history by Chelsee Boehm, 7 May 2018, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Giuliana Perona 7 May 2018 1 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Giuliana Perona, conducted on May 7, 2018 in the Stewart Library’s Archives Conference Room, by Chelsee Boehm. Giuliana discusses her life and her experiences as a first-generation college student at Weber State University. Alexis Stokes, the video technician, is also present during this interview. CB: My name is Chelsee Boehm, today is May 7, 2018 and I am here with Giuliana Perona and we are going to talk about her experiences as a first-generation student at Weber State University. Just to clarify, a first-generation student is one whose parents have not completed a four-year college degree. Alexis Stokes is operating the camera. So Giuliana, can you tell me where you were born? GP: I was born in Peru, South America. CB: So how did you end up in Utah? GP: Long story. First, when I came to America, I arrived in Los Angeles. I stayed there for ten years, got married, had a kid, and then things got tough there in the place that I was living. A lot of bad people there. I have two uncles who are truck drivers and they go around the country and they have the opportunity to see some other places. One of them told us that there is a beautiful place here in United States. That not everything is California or Florida and that place is Utah. A very nice place to raise kids, so that’s why I came here. CB: Okay. So, what kind of work did you parents do, or do your parents do? 2 GP: Well my father, he was a professional driver. He worked in the big petroleum company in my country. He was a driver of the SPOC, or Chealth in that petroleum company. The name of the company is Petróleos de Perú. And then my mother was just a regular housewife. She’s a good cooker and she knows how to sew, you know. And knit and all of that stuff. She is great. CB: Do you have any siblings? GP: Yes, I am the oldest. Then there is my sister, Tatiana, then my other sister Ursula, and the youngest is my brother, Miguel. CB: Okay, and do they all still live in Peru or have they come to America? GP: Thank God we all are here. So my brother is the only who lives in California. The three sisters, including me, live here in Utah. CB: Awesome. It’s probably nice to have them close. GP: Yes, yes, I’m very fortunate with that. And I have my parents with me. Well, my father already passed away, but when we came to America, we came with our parents. So, it was great. CB: Good, I’m so glad. So, when did you realize that you wanted to go to college? GP: When I was in my senior year in high school. That’s when I realized that, “What am I going to do? Because I’m 17 years old and I don’t have any clue that I’m going to do in the future. And then my father came along and he asked me, “What do you want to study? I don’t have too much money.” That’s what he said, “But I want to help you as much as I can because I still have the drive and still 3 can help you, you know?” Because he was already old when he got married with my mother. I said, “I don’t know, father.” [Laughs] I didn’t know at that time. “What do you suggest?” And then he said, “Well, why don’t you study secretary? Do you want to be a secretary?” And I said, “Yes, sounds interesting, it sounds nice. I want to be a secretary. I want to redact letters and all of that.” And he said, “Okay, let’s do that. Let’s study secretary.” And then what I did is, in my last year of senior, I’d go to school in the morning and then in the afternoon I have to go to a special school for secretaries. So, that’s what I did. So when I graduated, I graduated also with my certificate of secretary in Spanish. CB: And did you go to high school in Peru? GP: In Peru, yes. I finished there. CB: So how long have you been at Weber State? What made you decide to come to Weber State? GP: Well also a long story. When I came to America, I was already 26 years old and my siblings were still a little bit younger than me. And we first stayed there for about five years in Los Angeles. You know, working making our life, settle down. And then when my sister came from Peru—my youngest sister, Ursula. She came from Peru and she said, “Giuliana, we need to study, we need to do something. Because you’re not going to be working…” Well at that time I was working in Myer and Frank—well at that time it was Robinson’s May, but now they changed the name to Macey’s. So I was working there for a long time and she said, “You’re not going to work there for five years already and still working 4 there. There is no future there.” And then I said, “Okay, yeah, I agree. What are we going to study here?” And she said, “Let’s go to Cerritos.” Because we were living in that time in Los Angeles. And there is a special place there, Cerritos College. So we went there and asked if I could maybe be in radiology—radiology technician. And my sister wanted to be an ultrasound technician. We noticed that it was a little bit higher—the tuition. And then she said, “Let’s go to another college. Let’s see what happens if we go to Cypress.” So we went to Cypress college and we liked it over there. It was perfect. The school—at that time we had kids, so it was perfect for the kids. Everything was ready, the apartment was ready, we already talked to the person in charge for the tuitions and we already knew about the classes and all that. Work was perfect, very close. Everything was close, everything was perfect until my father got sick. We took our father to the hospital and unfortunately, he had cancer. So we decided to put that on the back burner, “No, don’t think about that anymore and think about our father.” You know? And that’s what happened, we focused on our father’s health and that’s why we put it on hold. Thinking of putting that situation on hold until we came here. Ten years after. So, that’s why. And then I said, “This was a thinking that we had it for a long time to finish school to graduate, to be something in life.” So, when we came here, that’s when we saw the opportunity and then we pursued it. CB: Yeah. Was there a reason that you picked Weber State in particular? GP: Yes, there is a reason in particular. I know that Weber State is a very prestigious university and also the University of Utah. But, the reason why I choose Weber State is because of how close it is to where I live. And everything is close. That’s 5 what I always think, that school has to be close, work has to be close. Because I don’t like traffic. If you live ten years in Los Angeles with that traffic you get sick of it. [Laughs] So yeah, that’s why I chose Weber State University and I have not regretted it. I love it. CB: That’s wonderful, I’m so glad. So can you tell me, was it difficult going to school and maybe even you can talk about some of your experiences in California. But, was it difficult to kind of figure out the logistics, like applying and figuring out tuition and stuff. Do you think that stuff is hard to navigate? GP: Thank God, no. It wasn’t so difficult for me because I have the opportunity and the luck to have very good counselors and people who help me to go through that process. So, it wasn’t so hard for me. CB: Good. So what are you studying right now? GP: Well, when I came here I had a mind that I wanted to be an accountant. So that was my purpose when I came here the first time. I want to be an accountant and I want to work very hard to get that degree. But, in the process I said, “Well, accountant is good but I want to be something else because I have the opportunity to be a little bit more.” And then I decided, “I think accountant goes well with finance.” So that’s why I decided now to have a double major in accounting and finance. I like numbers, so that’s why. CB: Very cool. So how far along are you? How close are you to being finished? GP: I think I have a year and a half ahead of me in order to finish both. 6 CB: Yeah. GP: Accounting and then finance. CB: And after you are done with your degree, what would you like to do? What’s like your dream job? GP: Well, my dream job and it has always been my dream job is to work in an office with a lot of papers there and a computer. Yeah, it’s just figurative, you know? CB: Totally. GP: And also, it has to be fulfilling. It has to be something that you like and in the process helping your community too. So, I just don’t want to be in an office eight hours there, 40 hours a week. But after that, I want to help my community. I want to give to my community what I already have received from this country. So, I want to give them back. Yeah. CB: Awesome. GP: So, yeah, I want that too. CB: So can you tell me what else you do besides being a student? Obviously, you have a family, don’t you? GP: Yes, yes. CB: Do you work as well? GP: Thank God, no. CB: Yeah? 7 GP: And this is something that I have to thank my husband very very profoundly from my heart, you know? I have to thank him that I’m not working right now. He says, “If you want to go back to school, don’t work. I will take care of everything. The house, the bills, and all of that and you just focus on your studies.” And I was very, I don’t know how to say, amazing, happy, and I thought to myself, “What a husband I have.” CB: Absolutely. That’s wonderful. GP: But to clarify a little bit more, after I finish, he’s going to start. So that after I finish, I’m going to take care of the house and he’s going to pursue what he’s always liked. So, he said, that he doesn’t know if he wants to be mechanic, work on diesel engines or he has a passion for wood. He said, “I want to model and shape woods.” Not just a carpenter, a little bit more than that, more art maybe, I don’t know. And I said, “I don’t know, whatever you want to be, that’s okay with me. It’s going to be your turn, so you decide what you like.” But that is the agreement that we have. CB: Yeah, I know you said that you had a child while you were in California. Do you have multiple children? Or just one? GP: No, I have two. CB: You have two? GP: One from my first marriage, Linda, she’s my oldest. And then one from my second marriage, and his name is Eric. He is eleven now. Linda is 23 right now. 8 CB: Oh wonderful, so is Linda attending college as well? Or has she? GP: She was attending college, but you know how life interferes sometimes. So she got married and she has a kid now. A two-year old daughter, so I am a grandma right now. Her name is Catalina. CB: That’s beautiful. GP: That’s the name of my granddaughter. CB: Awesome. So, are there any extracurricular clubs or groups that you are involved with on campus? Like, outside of schoolwork? GP: Not right now. I don’t have time to do anything else except school. But I would like to highlight that I have two programs here that I really like and I am involved, probably not in the way that I do something for the program. The program is doing something for me. So, one of them is non-traditional student program and then the other one is the Trio program. Yeah. I got there all of the time. CB: And can you remind me, what is Trio? GP: Oh Trio, it’s in the building in the student’s building. CB: Yeah, and what do they do? It is kind of like a support? GP: It is also a support, yes. They also have a program that they help you to buy books. They have a small lab that you can go there. You can do printings also— free. That’s why I like it. CB: Right? Awesome. So you said, you also, the non-trad office, so I was going to say, do you consider yourself a non-traditional student? 9 GP: Yes, yes. According to what they say a non-traditional student is a student who is already married, who has kids, or you know, it’s kind, I don’t want to say old. But a little bit—over thirty, let’s put it that way. CB: Okay. GP: Because I think for them a traditional student means a student who is maybe 19, 20 years old. You know? Very young. So that’s a traditional student for them. So for me and my case, I am a non-traditional student because I’m already passed 30. CB: So being a non-traditional student, how do you think your experience on campus is different than a traditional student’s? GP: Yes, and sometimes I am jealous of them. Because I want to be a traditional student but it’s not my time anymore. I’m jealous in the way that they have 19, 20 years old. You know, clean minds. No preoccupations sometimes. So, I want to be like them. But, In my case now, since I am a non-traditional student, I have a family, I have one kid because she’s already married. And I have to take care of my husband, take care of the house, take care of my kids, I have three dogs also. Take care of the dogs. And the Fridays, take care of my granddaughter. So, sometimes I have to put in a balance, you know? What am I going to do? To tell you the truth, I am 50 years old. So, put into balance, are you going to stay with your family or are you going to stay with your studies? What is more important? Sometimes you have to make that decision, what is more important? Stay with the family until maybe 9, 10 p.m. and then after that study a little bit for that quiz 10 that you’re going to have tomorrow. And well, I have to decide for the family because it’s time for me. I’m 50 years old and my family. I have to put my studies a little behind. In the way, sometimes that it has to be studying all night. Sometimes I don’t sleep. I sleep only five or six hours during the week on the weekdays. Saturday and Sundays it’s my days that I sleep a little bit longer but not too long because I have to do some chores at home. CB: Totally. GP: Yeah, it’s a little bit difficult for me. But I have to put in the balance, it has to be everything in balance. And not regret—I don’t regret nothing. Being with my family, I don’t regret it. Being up all night studying, I don’t regret it at all. Yeah. A cup of coffee in the morning, the next day, perfect. CB: What advice would you give to a perspective first generation student who is thinking about going to college? What would you say to them? GP: To the regular students? I mean, to the traditional students? Or to the non-traditional students? CB: Either one. GP: For the traditional students, probably like you girls, just to continue. Study and finish your studying. You’re going to have more open doors for you than I’m going to find. At this time, it’s just for me something that I always had in mind. I never couldn’t, but now I have the opportunity. And second, because I want to be an example for my kids and my family. That if you want it and if you really want it, you can do it. And this is a stupendous and magnificent country that they help 11 you all to study and finish your career. So, yeah. If you are a traditional student, yeah. Go for it, finish it, and then you can get married and have kids. If you are not, and you have to do it like me, you still have time. Even until we are eighty years old. We still have time to go back to school and finish it. CB: Wonderful. So, tell me the thing that you are most proud of being a student. GP: I’m very proud to be here at Weber State University. This is my alma mater. I don’t know how to say that in English, but in Spanish it’s alma mater. It’s the place where you have your location, it’s your university. So, no, I’m very proud to be a Wildcat student. CB: Wonderful. So, being a student, I mean you were born and raised in a foreign country. Do you feel like that adds challenges on top of… do you know what I mean? Does it add more challenges? GP: You mean the language? Of course. Of course, the language was very difficult for me to learn the English language. But, let me tell you something. When I was probably 11 years old and I was still in elementary. I went to the plaza—we call it plaza, it’s the place where you go and buy and do your groceries. That was in my time. But right now, we have shopping centers to do you groceries, you know? In my time, I have a plaza, and there was an old man selling books. And then I saw some of the books in English. Because I was taking a look at the book and I said, “I’d like this book in English.” I always had the insight that I wanted to learn another language. But, I didn’t know at that time that English was that language that I wanted to learn. But when I saw the book I said, “No, I want to buy that 12 book.” So I bought it. I didn’t know how to read it and I read it in Spanish, you know it my language. But, It wasn’t the way it was supposed to be pronounced. But, it was a challenge to understand and write in English. But, it is okay. It has some similarities with Spanish. So, and I like English, I love English. Sometimes I don’t speak it very well. But I like to talk in English and also in Spanish of course. One other challenge is sometimes I talk to my husband I said, “If I was in my country and I probably had the opportunity there—back in time. The study…” Because my parents were poor. Not so poor, but my father couldn’t give me more education that I had at that time. And I said, “It is beautiful to learn and study in your own language.” Because one of the struggles that I have is to speak and write in English. But it’s something that I’m working at. And I know that the University gives me a lot of opportunities and they have a lot of students also, for example, in the Elizabeth Hall, there are students there that help you with your English, with your grammar. Thank God that the University has that for foreign students and I’m taking advantage of that too. Yeah. I will try to speak and write a little bit more, you know? Better than I’m already am. Yeah, that is one of the challenges. CB: Absolutely. So we’ve gone through all of the questions that I have. Is there anything that you feel like we missed? Anything that you want to add? GP: Okay, well, what can I say? I love Utah, I love California. I also love the United States. But, I want to go and visit more places here. I know the United States has beautiful places to go and visit. I didn’t have the chance to go, I didn’t go to Niagara Falls, I didn’t go over there. Last year, I went to Yellowstone. 13 CB: Oh awesome. GP: Yeah, I went to Yellowstone. I had to opportunity last year to go over there. Beautiful. I was impressed and then two years I went to Moab. So, yeah, I’m starting with my husband right now to go and visit places. So, and some other places that we want to go to is Europe. My husband wants to go to Egypt. So, I don’t maybe we can go over there. And you girls, you are very young, you need to go out and know places too. In a way, it will give us more exposure to other cultures. Sometimes that’s what we need. When I was in California, I thought that California was the United States and then when I came here to Utah, I said, “No, it’s not only California. The United States is more than that. It has so many other places that I want to see and know.” So, that’s why I say, “No, the United States is not only California.” It’s bigger than that. So, yeah. That’s what I recommend. To go and get exposure to other cultures. It will enrich us also, too. To be more open minded.