Eric Bowden 00:01

All right. Hello, my name is Eric Bowden. I'm a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. It is what's today's date? Wednesday, the

 

Antonio Fajardo  00:10

24th.

 

Eric Bowden  00:11

April the 24th 2024. Yeah, I, thank you so much for doing this interview with me.

 

Antonio Fajardo  00:20

Absolutely.

 

Eric Bowden  00:23

Yeah. So, first,I just like to know, some basic questions about yourself and your family and your background. Could you start off by sharing where your family is from your childhood and how you grew up?

 

Antonio Fajardo 00:31

Yeah, so my family is from Honduras. I was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and so were my parents. And we immigrated here when I was just a year old. So it's just me, my dad, and then my brother is he was born here in the United States back in 2004.

 

Eric Bowden  00:51

Okay.

 

Antonio Fajardo  00:53

But, yeah no, we've been living here for pretty much the past 22 years. And pretty much the rest of my family is in Honduras. And we grew up here pretty much in the United States.

 

Eric Bowden  01:05

Okay. What would you say? Like the quality of your childhood? Like? I mean, I mean, it was, it was been difficult early on, but like, what could you say about sort of, like, when you first got to the United States?

 

Antonio Fajardo  01:15

Yeah, I mean, like, I wouldn't say it was much of a struggle, because I mean, I came here very young. I mean, even though I was born in Honduras, it's not like, you know, a typical story where like, someone's a, they've immigrated from another country, and they have to learn a new language. I guess, in a way, it was a bit of a struggle, because it was, I had two parents who didn't speak any English, and I only spoke Spanish with them. And then when I went to another school, it was like, trying to learn two languages at the same time. So I guess that was definitely a bit of a struggle growing up. But other than that, I mean, there were, I didn't feel like there were really any major issues, or at least that I couldn't experience, you know.

 

Eric Bowden  01:59

Yeah. Yeah. So, was Virginia Beach, like the first place? Y'all like, sort of landed? So to say?

 

Antonio Fajardo  02:05

I guess technically we lived in Portsmouth. For a bit. Yeah, I grew up in Portsmouth for a bit, but then we moved to Virginia Beach eventually. And then I, I started going to school right here in Virginia Beach.

 

Eric Bowden  02:20

Okay, yeah. What was um, what was the name of like your elementary school?

 

Antonio Fajardo  02:23

It was several. But the one that I graduated from in fifth grade was at Woodstock elementary school. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  02:29

Woodstock, gotchu. So yeah. And then kind of moving on from that, like middle school and high school. Same, same sort of deal?

 

Antonio Fajardo  02:37

Yeah I mean, I, you know, went to school in only in Virginia Beach. Pretty much.

 

Eric Bowden  02:44

Yeah. And then, you know, the question I'll ask again, like, the highest level of education you've achieved so far?

 

Antonio Fajardo  02:50

Um, so I guess myself. Yeah, it was a it was a high school diploma. But I also graduated with my Associates in Science in community college, and I transferred over here to VCU.

 

Eric Bowden  03:03

Got you. Yeah. Awesome. Um sort, sort of, sort of going on from that. Did you grow up with religion?

 

Antonio Fajardo  03:11

Yeah, yeah. Um, Honduras is primarily Catholic. So I experienced Catholicism growing up, I went through everything in my First Communion confirmation. So ya know, I grew up very Catholic.

 

Eric Bowden  03:26

Got you. Are you still religious?

 

Antonio Fajardo  03:31

Not as much as I used to. Definitely when I'm around family, I am a little bit more religious, just because that's just what our household is like. But out here, I definitely feel like I distance myself a little bit. Not for any particular reason, just how life kind of took me.

 

Eric Bowden  03:47

Gotcha. Yeah. Sure. So like, when you're back home, you might be like, practicing some things, but not here. Not necessarily.

 

Antonio Fajardo 03:54

Yeah. You know, like praying before a meal, or something like that, you know, I don't do that here. But over there, like, it's no problem.

 

Eric Bowden  04:03

So, yeah, kind of talking about your migration journey now. I know you were very young, obviously. But could you sort of describe how the journey must have been?

 

Antonio Fajardo  04:13

Yeah, I mean, originally, my my dad came here two years before I did. So I was born in 2001. And my dad immigrated here in 1999, because he owned a company, which unfortunately failed, and so he came to the United States for a better opportunity to pay off his debt. So when I was born, he actually wasn't there. So for the first two years of my life. But yeah, no, it was just me and my mom in Honduras, him here in the United States. And then eventually we decided to just go with him originally just to visit, but then in the end, we're like, why don't we just move here? Yeah, like it would just be better for him. So, yeah, no, we pretty much just my parents just sacrificed everything and they just came here to the United States at the end.

 

Eric Bowden  05:08

So um, like, I understand your dad came for business. Was there like a business in Virginia that he was like, why was he drawn to Virginia? I suppose.

 

Antonio Fajardo 05:17

So. My dad went to trade school.

 

Eric Bowden 05:18

Okay.

 

Antonio Fajardo 05:19

And so he got a degree in industrial mechanics. And so he is a fabricator, he's a welder. And he was very much in the field of, like, naval ship repair.

 

Eric Bowden  05:34

Oh, yeah. Okay

 

Antonio Fajardo 05:35

And so like, over there in Norfolk, Virginia, you know, Portsmouth, you know, the ship repair industry is pretty big. So he found a job here. Being able to work on like naval vessels. So yeah, that's what kind of drew him over here versus staying over there in Honduras.

 

Eric Bowden  05:53

Gotcha. Makes sense is um, it's like ship welding and stuff like that... Is it a big industry in Honduras also?

 

Antonio Fajardo  06:01

Definitely like construction and fabrication and like, welding is a very big thing in Honduras. A lot of at least during my, my dad's time, it was very common to go to trade school. Not so much college. It's just how it was, at least the city where we were from.  Um, but yeah, I guess I would say that instance was somewhat big.

 

Eric Bowden  06:25

Sure. Yeah. Cool. So you've lived in Virginia, all your life. Originally, though? Portsmouth to Virginia Beach. Yeah, no, you you only live in Portsmouth prior to Virginia Beach. So I know you said at the beginning, like you didn't really have as many struggles adapting, I suppose that the language was one thing.

 

Antonio Fajardo  06:43

That was the one thing that was very, very tough for me, because it was like, like I said, like I was learning how to speak. You know what I mean? So it's like, my mind worked in Spanish primarily, I guess, you know, English was my first language. I mean, sorry, I'm Spanish, my first language. So when I started go to school, in elementary school, I probably only comprehended a few words here and there stuff that I'd maybe seen on television. Sure. But I mean, nothing that my parents taught me because they barely know how to speak English, speak English themselves. That was, that was definitely a struggle when I first started going to school.

 

Eric Bowden  07:16

Absolutely, yeah. What else? What else was difficult about adapting to life in the US?

 

Antonio Fajardo  07:21

Um, I think it was just realizing how how different like I was to other people. I mean, obviously, like, we were talking about, like religion before. And I've only like, you know, when I first got here, I thought there was only one form of being, you know, not not in terms of like God or anything like that. It's like, one form of living. And I thought ours was the only way. But then when I was like, starting to, you know, meet other people, mainly, you know, Americans, people who, you know, their parents grew up here their entire life, and they understand this form of living. I immediately started to compare myself and I started asking my parents, so many questions like, why can this person do this? And why are they doing that? So it was definitely just trying to understand, like, why we live the way we did and why they live the way they did. So it was just trying to understand that, you know, I was basically trying to learn how to different cultures at the same time.

 

Eric Bowden  08:21

Absolutely. Yeah. And like using what you knew from like, the home life to try to like figure out the rest of the world.

 

Antonio Fajardo  08:28

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  08:29

but, but those things didn't agree also.

 

Antonio Fajardo  08:31

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  08:33

Yeah. So do you have any family members still living in Honduras?

 

Antonio Fajardo  08:36

Oh, yeah. I mean, pretty much all of my family lives in Honduras. I have a over time. You know, I've gotten a few family members who have emigrated over here to the United States, and we're kind of scattered throughout the United States. Okay. But for the most part, most of my family is in Honduras.

 

Eric Bowden  08:53

Yeah. So are they are you still in contact with them?

 

Antonio Fajardo  08:55

Yeah, I talked to them, you know, birthdays, you know, my graduations in a couple of weeks. So they call me to congratulate me. So yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  09:04

Awesome. Very cool. Yes, you speak to each other, not infrequently, and probably like, big celebrations and stuff. What about the family that also has immigrated to the United States where have they settled?

 

Antonio Fajardo  09:18

You know, I've got I got family in New Jersey. I've got family in South Carolina. And a little bit of family over there in Virginia Beach. My my dad runs a company and a lot of our employees are mainly family so they move down to Virginia Beach so that they can start working and yeah, so that's where they are.

 

Eric Bowden  09:40

Nice. Yeah, like, I just curious about like, like, sort of the extended family network like, and like, do you still feel as close to that extended family despite the distance?

 

Antonio Fajardo  09:54

That's, that's interesting. Um, do I still feel as close? I feel like, it's really weird is like, I never was extremely close, but I never was super distant either. And, you know, it's not like when I talk to them on the phone, it feels like I'm talking to a stranger.  It feels I mean, like, they're family. Like, they know me, they saw me grew up, they were there when I was born. So I guess like that, you know, even as a kid, when you didn't have that much like recollection of everything, you still know who that person is, you know, just that, that. That feeling of like, recognition is like, alright, it's not a total stranger, its my family, you know, so. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  10:34

Yeah. Gotcha. And then yeah, like more about supposedly, like your nuclear family, you got the younger brother?

 

Antonio Fajardo  10:41

Yes, I do.

 

Eric Bowden  10:42

What would you say about like, the differences between your assimilation process and his assimilation process? Being that you were he was born in the country, and you weren't.

 

Antonio Fajardo  10:53

it was a lot easier for him.

 

Eric Bowden  10:53

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  10:55

It was, it was a lot easier. I mean, like, when he was born, the circumstance was different. I mean, he was a, he was born three years after I was. So in those three years, obviously, my parents learned a lot more English. So it was a little bit easier for I mean, they still spoke to him in Spanish, his first language was Spanish as well. But also, I feel like he was able to adapt to life very, very quickly, because I mean, he was, he was born here, right. And, you know, like I was saying, Before, when I was born, I was surrounded by all of my family in Honduras. But here he was surrounded by, obviously, my parents, but also like friends that we've made in those three years, you know, that were born here in the United States. So that was kind of his family as well. And so he grew like he pretty much like his first year, was growing up around my parents, but also, you know, a lot of parents here in the United States, etc. So he was kind of able to adapt to both lifestyles versus me where it's like, I was only able to adapt to one, because I was an only child for a little bit. And then eventually, like, I was able to learn more about the United States way of life.

 

Eric Bowden  12:11

Yeah, yeah. I like that you point out that so much more of it is just like, having people to go with through it together. Yeah. So to speak. Yeah. Like, you know, when you, when you came here with your mom to, you know, be with your dad. Like, you just didn't have that network yet. 

 

Antonio Fajardo  12:30

Yeah no, no, it's just us, two. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  12:32

Yeah. That's, that's crazy.

 

Antonio Fajardo  12:33

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  12:34

So kind of going more on about life in Virginia. What was like Portsmouth and Virginia Beach? Or just like the 757 in general? Like, what what was it like? When you first moved there?

 

Antonio Fajardo  12:43

When I first moved there? Um, you know, I don't I don't feel like I have a lot of at least for the first couple of years on my life. I don't think I have a lot of like, core memories of, of like, because the thing is, I didn't see it as Virginia Beach. You know, I only I've only lived in Virginia my entire life. So it's not like, oh, I lived in Texas at one point, I experienced life there. And then I went to Virginia Beach and I could see a difference. It was like, I mean, to be fair, I didn't know that there was... I thought Virginia Beach is one giant city, but it's like there's Portsmouth Norfolk, Newport News. And so I couldn't really I couldn't give you a comparison between the three or four. Yeah. But ya know, it's kind of tough to say what my experience was like.

 

Eric Bowden  13:55

What was it like, growing up there then I suppose like?  Oh, it was super nice. I mean, like, that's, it was, it was my first everything the first group of friends I ever made. You know, first time learning English was in Virginia Beach. My first like, first time walking, you know, my first few steps where my feet actually hit the ground. I was here in Virginia Beach as well. So I think it was just just the development of my life just to build up the evolution. So yeah, I think that was the I guess if I had to look back at it over the last couple years just like seeing myself grow up like from just an infant into the adult that I am now. That yeah, well with like, how much you've changed as well. How has I'd say Virginia Beach change to in that time period?

 

Antonio Fajardo  14:43

That's an interesting question. How much does it change? You know, it's interesting because like, every time I go back, I feel like it's the same place that I always remembered it as you know, and just you know, the same activities, you know, let's go to Mount Trashmore today, you know, and like you just drive past that it's still there. It's still the same place that you remember it as you know, it's definitely gotten upgraded over the years quite a bit. But other than that, you know, I feel like Virginia Beach is has always been good ol' Virginia Beach. I haven't really. Even when I go back, I would think like, all these places change so much, but like, no, like, maybe they built a new 7/11 down the road or something. But that like, in terms of the city's personality, it's, it's still very much the same.

 

Eric Bowden  15:34

Yeah. Do you think it's more crowded? Now?

 

Antonio Fajardo  15:37

Honestly, yeah. I mean, I think it's definitely become a hotspot.

 

Eric Bowden  15:40

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  15:40

You know, I and also like, for when I moved here to Richmond, a lot of people when I would talk to them, you know, they would constantly like asking questions about Virginia Beach. And they tell me like I went to Virginia Beach for this and that and that and like, I would just talk to a lot of people when I mentioned I'm from Virginia Beach, they would their eyes would light up. But for me, it wasn't like nothing major. Because like, I grew up there, you know, like, Yeah, I'm I'm Trashmore the ocean front. And like all that, like, already. I already know about that. But now it's like this big like, it's this big talk now. No, yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  16:14

Yeah, like growing up. I didn't really get like the whole tourism destination.

 

Antonio Fajardo  16:18

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  16:18

...thing. But now I feel like when I go back, I'm like, there's so many cars on the roads.

 

Antonio Fajardo  16:22

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  16:24

Like where did all of these people come from?

 

Antonio Fajardo  16:25

Yeah, I mean, you know, it's always been a very, very popular spot. For me as a kid, I didn't really recognize it, because I was just kind of like, this is just life now. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  16:34

Yeah. And I think being by the water somehow, like kind of helps with the space feeling. Yeah. I imagine if Virginia Beach wasn't on the ocean, like if it was where Richmond was. It feels so much more crowded with how many people?

 

Antonio Fajardo  16:48

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  16:48

...but like the ocean, the ocean kind of gives a good, good escape.

 

Antonio Fajardo  16:51

Yeah, definitely.

 

Eric Bowden  16:52

So when you first got to Virginia Beach, was there like a Latino community already established that you guys sort of, you know, like, can make connections with or like, how did that go?

 

Antonio Fajardo  17:03

So you know what? And I guess going back to your question, I guess the one change, I will say in Virginia Beach has been the Latino community for sure. Because when we got there, there, there weren't that many Latinos like my mom's first friend in the United States only spoke English. And my mom only spoke Spanish, I ended up becoming the best of friends her her like, her son became like my first childhood friend as well. And so I guess for the first couple of years, we definitely like, we were like, the only Latino, Honduran family in the neighborhood. But then eventually now we were able to find an even bigger community. And I've definitely seen it grown a lot in the last few years. So yeah, like at first, I don't think it wasn't until maybe high school I actually started to become friends with like other Latinos and that the only person I wouldn't speak Spanish to wouldn't just be my parents. Okay, them as well.

 

Eric Bowden  18:04

Nice.

 

Antonio Fajardo  18:04

And even there, I can see a big difference between me and them. Because it's like, they were very much like, oh, I recently arrived for the country. And so I'm still like, kind of settling and like when I was a kid, but I'd already been living there for about, shoot 10 plus years. Yeah. So yeah, yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  18:22

But you're a unique case. Because, like you, you have no memories of being of Honduras.

 

Antonio Fajardo  18:28

No, yeah. No I don't.

 

Eric Bowden  18:29

But you're not, But you weren't born here as well, which just makes like the identity thing...

 

Antonio Fajardo  18:33

Yeah. And I struggle with that a lot as a kid. Yeah, for sure. You know, I remember like, telling my mom, I'm almost like, I just don't I don't know how to, like, identify myself. It's just really, really tough. But she's like, it's just part of life. You know, you understand it? Yeah. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  18:50

And, yeah, I like that. You point out like, me, obviously, we went to high school together. There was definitely like a Latino presence.

 

Antonio Fajardo  18:56

Oh yea a hundred percent... I sat at that table.

 

Eric Bowden  18:59

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  18:59

Where its like like, you know, this person's from Colombia, this one's Spain, Honduras, Dominicans, you know, like I definitely started to, I would say for for without a doubt, like, Princess Anne High School was a very diverse school for sure.

 

Eric Bowden  19:13

Absolutely.  Versus all the other schools that I went to it was like, mainly just Caucasian, black and me just the one Latino. Yeah.  Yeah. So I'm like, I know you said like, your first childhood friend actually wasn't a Latino. Yeah. Like, how would you feel like did the community welcome you? Like, How was life outside of the Latino community? Given that that was kind of all you had? Initially?

 

Antonio Fajardo  19:38

Yeah. Are you talking about like, just not the Latino community welcomed me? Yeah, like like, yeah, yeah, um, no, yeah, I've never felt like that, you know, looked down upon or discriminated, especially like, and like I mentioned before, like, not only was my mom's English very broken when she met this woman, but like mine was too and me and this guy. Like, we we're just the best of friends you know? So yeah, no, I never. I always felt welcomed. For sure there was never a moment where I didn't feel just not welcome or like, discriminated or something. Yeah, yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  20:17

So what were then like, the obstacles for yourself and your family, like when you when you got to Virginia Beach?

 

Antonio Fajardo  20:25

Um, I think the first one and it wasn't something that I personally struggle with, but my parents did, but they, I felt like they always knew how to keep like, just, you know, a happy face. Definitely struggle a lot with poverty growing up. Our first place was a one bedroom apartment, very cheap rent. And we all fit in on a very, very small bed. So definitely growing up, you know, just having very, very low income. My mom cleaned houses for the first couple years of her life, my dad worked Monday to Sunday at the shipyard every single day, all day. And, you know, even after all that, it would just be enough to pay rent, and then buy food for the week. And I wasn't able to, you know, experience, I guess the luxury of like, you know, most kids like getting toys from their parents, whatever they want. Like, it was very much like when I would go to the store, I would ask my mom like, Hey, can I get this? Like, no, like, we gotta buy the important stuff right now.

 

Eric Bowden  21:30

Yeah, absolutely. Any other any other obstacle? I mean, I kind of want to go back to like, the language thing. I think it's so fascinating.   Oh. Cool.

 

Antonio Fajardo  21:39

Oh, yeah, definitely the language thing was an obstacle too, you know, I think it was like it was learning English, but maintaining Spanish as well. Because there was a point where like, yeah, I was, you know, there was a point where obviously, I mainly spoke Spanish, very little English. But then I spoke very good English. And I was starting to lose my Spanish. And that became a new challenge in itself with my mainly with my parents, because they were like, Look, if we ever decide to go visit Honduras, again. Like, we want to make sure that you guys know how to speak Spanish because your your family doesn't speak English. Right? Yeah. And that's actually also changed in Honduras. During that time. That was our main, like, our main concern, but now in Honduras actually English has become a very big part of like, the curriculum,  So my cousin's speak perfect English, but obviously, like, they want me to speak the language. You know, that's mainly spoken over there.

 

Eric Bowden  22:37

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  22:37

So it was just trying to find a balance between the two. And I feel like now at 22 years old, you know, I found a really good balance. Like, I feel like I speak very good Spanish. And obviously, I speak very good English.

 

Eric Bowden  22:49

Yeah. Were there any like, resources your family sort of leaned on? Like in the in the early years?

 

Antonio Fajardo  22:58

In terms of what like learning English?

 

Eric Bowden  23:00

Yeah. Or just just like, for any for any of the obstacles that you guys had? Like? I'm just curious to like any community help where you guys have like church groups, stuff like that?

 

Antonio Fajardo  23:11

Yeah. Um, there were no church groups. And like, to this day, my parents have never like asked for a loan from a bank or, like, it's been pure, just hard work, saving money, and a lot of sacrifice for sure. So I guess, if we're talking about, like, when I was talking about poverty and everything like that, there were no donations or nothing like my parents are in every single cent of their income. But then in terms of like, the language thing, I think it was just like, surrounding ourselves with the community, like my mom, little by little would pick up little things from her friends who spoke English. And that's how she learned. And then also, it sounds cliche, from television too you know, like, there was no Spanish television back in the day in the day. So when I would watch like, I would be learning myself and then so would my mom. You know what I mean? So, yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  24:09

Cool. Yeah. Yeah, actually, this kind of goes in well, because, like you talked about, like, I suppose like, the drive to always, like, stay on top of things like hard work. That's definitely been built into you. Yeah. I mean, like, like you said, you have a job right now. So I'll just be curious about like, what you do now, as well as doing school?

 

Antonio Fajardo  24:30

Yeah. So I'm a personal trainer. I started personal training at Cary Street Gym. It was my first personal training gig. When I first when I first transferred here, because you know, first I applied to VCU, I got in and then eventually, slightly after I applied I got my personal training certification when like, see, campus gym is hiring. So I started working there and then recently back in October I started working at crunch Fitness on Glenside. And that has been the biggest test of like, everything that like my parents, you know, really worked me towards which was like obviously finding that equal balance in Spanish English because Glenside is actually very, very big Latino community. And so we get tons of members that come in that don't speak any English. And thank goodness that I found my balance between English and Spanish because I've been able to help them out of ton, you know, sign people up for memberships. Get them in personal training. I have a few clients who don't speak any English, but I've learned how to instruct exercise in Spanish as well. So definitely a big part of my job not only has been, you know, training members, getting them more fit, but also learning how to, I guess, encourage my people to you know, and teach them about this, you know, fitness lifestyle. Yeah,

 

Eric Bowden  25:57

I can imagine it's a whole different thing you having to like, like exercise fitness words, like in Spanish?

 

Antonio Fajardo  26:04

Oh, yeah. No, I've got my pocket dictionary on me. Because like I said, I mean, yeah, I have a good equal balance between Spanish and English. But it's also like, that was a new challenge in itself. When I started working there, you know, teaching someone how to do a squat in Spanish when I've been teaching people how to squat for two years in English so yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  26:22

And then that, so obviously, the work you do as a physical trainer coincides with what you're studying, like exercise science.

 

Antonio Fajardo  26:29

Yes. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  26:30

So what's like the sort of system where you learn it in English? And then you have to figure out how to make it transferable to someone in Spanish? Like, what's that process like?

 

Antonio Fajardo  26:41

Um, I think for me, I mean, there's, there's two different processes, the most simple one, and it's, you know, sometimes I'm guilty, too, if I gotta go to Google Translate, and I gotta, like, translate, or there's plenty of great websites out there that provide, like, exercise terminology, translated from English to Spanish. So I'll go in there, and I'll look up maybe the word that I'm looking for, and also just practicing with programming with my program for a client who only speaks Spanish. The programs in Spanish,

 

Eric Bowden  27:16

Oh, yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  27:17

And so like, that has been able to definitely expand my vocabulary a lot more. So I mean, that's one process. And I guess the the other process, I mean, sometimes, like, I make it known, like, when I get a client that doesn't speak a lot of Spanish or sorry, doesn't speak a lot of English, I'll tell them like I speak Spanish. It's not the greatest Spanish in the world. But if you can just bear with me, like, I'm gonna do my best. Let me work this thing together. So if I have to maybe describe it, as I do the movement, then that works, too. You know, I mean, so it's not always going to be perfect grammar and vocabulary, but sometimes you just gotta find the right few words, and just bring it together.

 

Eric Bowden  27:56

So do you do any? Like, are the people that you help with that? are primarily Spanish speakers? Do they come to you like asking for help with their English? Like, is that part of the relationship as well? Or not necessarily?  It's really interesting so unfortunately, no, like, most of the people that I trained that are in Spanish. They, they're very much, maybe not with me, they want to learn English, but maybe they joined the gym so that they can start to practice or be like, like I did growing up. I was surrounded by English speakers, like picked up on little things. Yeah. So they put themselves in that environment where there's people that speak English, but also there's people that speak Spanish as well. Yeah. So not necessarily with me. I think like most of the time, when they start training with me, they only want to speak Spanish. And I'm not going to tell them no, obviously. But I can, you know, I can see like, their method behind trying to learn just like, just put yourself in a place. Yeah, Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So we're kind of speaking about, like, the Latino community in Richmond, and like you said that maybe in comparison to Virginia Beach, although the Latino community Virginia Beach has grown a lot here, particularly it's very strong.

 

Antonio Fajardo  29:05

Yeah. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  29:06

Like, could you speak about sort of like either that diversity of Latino community here or like, just just your experience with it?

 

Antonio Fajardo  29:14

I think I've definitely started experiencing the most when I started working at Crunch Glenside.

 

Eric Bowden  29:19

Yes.

 

Antonio Fajardo  29:19

Because I know here at VCU, we have like the Latino organization. I don't know the name of third club or whatever. But I know there's that organization. I never really got too involved with that. But um, I think where I started to see the most diversity was when I started when I went over to Crunch Fitness Glenside because it's over there in the Henrico County, because a lot of Spanish speakers there. And that's when I definitely started to experience the most diversity.

 

Eric Bowden  29:54

Yeah, awesome. Yeah. So yeah like I I guess now we like we've kind of moved towards life in Richmond. But I kind of want to go back to Virginia Beach a bit because I want to ask you questions about COVID, which I know can be uncomfortable, but

 

Antonio Fajardo  30:11

No, no.

 

Eric Bowden  30:11

There's I think there's good stuff to be to be discussed here. Particularly, I know that we went to the same high school that kind of, Yeah.  ...the shared experience kind of helps. Yeah. So what was like your living situation when the pandemic started? And how did you first learn about it?

 

Antonio Fajardo  30:24

So I was going to community college, I was going to Tidewater Community College getting my originally I was in a engineering program, but then I switched over to exercise science. So I was getting my Associates in Science. And it was my second semester of college. And I think we were like, halfway through maybe. And I just remember one day hearing on the news about this like Coronavirus, or whatever. And, at first, it was what everybody heard as a primary a year like European/Asian thing you know, it was kind of on the other side of the world. So I wasn't worried about it. But then, you know, eventually there was the news about it starting to have traces in the United States. I was like, Alright, its not gonna' come to Virginia. You know, sometimes it happens when they talk about a virus and it stays on like, the West Coast.

 

Eric Bowden  31:03

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  31:09

But then eventually, they were like, no, like, it's it's starting to, you know, it's in the Carolinas, it's like in Maryland, it's like, oh, it's really close.

 

Eric Bowden  31:32

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  31:33

Um, so I guess like, eventually, the closer it got, the more aware we became. And that's when they started to shut down school. That's when they were like, alright, I was on spring break matter of fact. I was on spring break for college. And they're like, Hey, we're gonna extend it another week. Just to make sure just til this thing kind of clears up, or we're, we're in the clear.

 

Eric Bowden  31:57

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  31:58

But then eventually, a week became a month, and then pretty much the rest of the semester was completely online.

 

Eric Bowden  32:04

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  32:05

And that's pretty much how it was for the next year and a half of getting my associate's degree. And then eventually, my first in person class was when I transferred here to VCU again.

 

Eric Bowden  32:17

Yeah, wow.

 

Antonio Fajardo  32:17

So I was still at home. I'm still living with my parents and pretty much lived my parents for that the duration of my associate's degree, and then I moved out here.

 

Eric Bowden  32:24

Cool. Yeah. So how did your like... so you were living at home? How did your family deal with that, like, at the at the same time?

 

Antonio Fajardo  32:32

And so it was very easy for my parents to like, go into like lockdown mode. Because there was a ton of people that were very nonchalant about the virus, like, Oh, it's just a flu. Like, don't worry about it. My parents were like, no, like, nobody's getting sick in this house. Nobody's like dying on our watch. So we took every precautions, you know, we bought every single mask we could, bought every disinfecting wipe. You know, we started setting rules and just being like, You got to wash your hands every single time we bring your like, if you're like you bring your shoes in, like the bottom of the soul. excetera like they were we were on it for sure. Oh, they were, they were super cautious about it. Like they were. It was like, when I was a kid again, and like it would be dark out. And that would be like, you have to come inside right now. Because, and I know, we didn't touch about this earlier. But like, you know, Honduras is not the safest place in the world. You know, so it's very typical for when it's dark outside, that everybody's gonna be inside. Because, you know, that's when, you know, stuff starts to hit the fan.

 

Eric Bowden  33:01

Yeah.  Yeah, yeah. So how did that affect their work as well like with what they do?

 

Antonio Fajardo  33:47

So it's it was an interesting case. So I'm not exactly sure how accurate this is because it still doesn't make sense this very day. But my, my dad has a company. It's a fabrication shop, but it's also a staffing agency with the ship repair industry. So we work with stuff like VAE, Colonna's Shipyard. And the government told us like, we're not allowed to close because we're such an essential industry that like, there's no reason we can close. So my parents kept going to work. My mom stayed home because she was just an administrator, she worked in HR for that company. So she could just do all her work at home, but my dad was obviously the President and his supe, like, you know, his right hand man was the supervisor. And all of our employees. They, you know, worked in like our little shop area where we do all the, you know, the hard work and stuff. And we pretty much like we didn't shut down but we had to work at a reduced capacity. So we like our older employees, they stay home because they were at a higher risk or younger guys, they stay there and they've worked with us. And then for me, I had to work as well, because they were like, they told us like, hey, like, we've had sent a lot of people home because of this thing. I need you guys to step up. So I was working during what I thought was gonna be like my break. Oh, whatever. I ended up working, I learned how to weld I learned how to fabricate well, because we just were in dire need of help. So me and my brother, you know, Monday through Friday, went up there worked 6am to three o'clock in the afternoon. And we had to help out. And there was eventually a point where like, Alright, we're gonna like, chill out, you guys can like relax while this like pandemic blows over. So I was I was also in school as well. So I definitely had to put a lot more work towards that. But, ya know, that's, that was kind of our situation.

 

Eric Bowden  35:57

Yeah. Was anybody in your family severely impacted by COVID? Like,

 

Antonio Fajardo  36:02

Severely impacted? Um, luckily, we didn't lose anybody. We did get it. Yeah, unfortunately, I still remember the day my mom called me while I was at work at the shop. And she was like, Hey, you gotta come home. Like, I tested positive. And I was like, okay, yeah. So we all went home, we got ourself tested. To this day. I've never tested positive on paper. Like, I've only tested negative, but still had to quarantine for a very, very long time. And that was a very, very tough situation. Yeah,

 

Eric Bowden  36:39

Yeah. I'm sure like, just like high stress, like, yeah, yeah, trying, doing so hard to avoid it. And then you finally get it. And it's just like,

 

Antonio Fajardo  36:46

Yeah I was like, I felt like we did everything right. You know, like, especially like, wearing a mask every single time like disinfecting every grocery when we come in, like washing our hands immediately. I feel like we did everything in the book. But then we still got it in the end. Yeah. So yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  37:01

What was, what was online learning? Like for you, especially with working at the same time? What was that? Like? Yeah,

 

Antonio Fajardo  37:08

I mean, it was it was a new adjustment. And it definitely was. It was it was convenient, in a way because I think when online learning happened, it was very self paced.

 

Eric Bowden  37:22

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  37:23

So I guess that was the one advantage of it while I was working, but I mean, at the end of the day, college is still college and it has its struggles. So it was, it was definitely hard, because I was just constantly working. Like it was like, get up early in the morning, go work the shop, I'd come back chilll for a little bit. And then it's like, you got to do your homework, you know. So.

 

Eric Bowden  37:49

Yeah. You also, I liked that you pointed out like your family was pretty, like conscious of the pandemic that was going on and being careful about it. But you also said that a lot of people had just disregard. Yeah. Like I can remember. You know, like, at the beginning of the pandemic, I was still in my senior year of high school. And like, you would still like see on social media or whatever, like people hanging out with each other.

 

Antonio Fajardo  38:13

Exactly.

 

Eric Bowden  38:14

You were like, Wait, I thought we were all like, yeah, doing this thing. Can you like, Do you have any memories of like that sort of that sort of feeling with the pandemic?

 

Antonio Fajardo  38:23

Oh, yeah. No. And I was one of those people. I didn't I didn't film it, because we're post about it. Because, you know, there were a lot of people who were in a very complicated situation were probably affected more than we were, you know, yeah. And so it's like, I don't want to it's not something to brag about. But there was a it was like, Yeah, you know, I still had to be careful and everything like that. My biggest thing was just like keeping my circle small.

 

Eric Bowden  38:51

Absolutely.

 

Antonio Fajardo  38:51

That was the biggest thing. Like, there's people who I hadn't seen in a while and I never knew about their whereabouts. Probably not the best. Yeah, but I'm not I saw, you know, a lot of college students being like, Rona, who is that? Yeah, it's gonna go to the beach and party and stuff like that, like, this is not real. And then next, you know, it's like, 10 COVID cases.

 

Eric Bowden  39:12

Yes.

 

Antonio Fajardo  39:12

Just went up,

 

Eric Bowden  39:13

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  39:14

So you know, if I was to go out with friends, it wasn't anything extreme. Like I was when I started COVID I was like, 19, 20 years old, so I couldn't drink yet. Yeah. So I would never like go out to dinner go out. Also restaurants and bars were close, but it would just be literally like, Hey, you guys want to go to the soccer field? Soccer and that's about it. We would go to an open field play a little soccer and then we've just go home yeah. But ya know, that was pretty much it.

 

Eric Bowden  39:44

I also, like when I when I look back at at COVID at Virginia Beach. I remember all the drama about people wanting to walk on the beach.

 

Antonio Fajardo  39:52

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  39:53

And then and then the city government said unless you're like recreating on the beach, you're not allowed to use it. Remember that like You either had to be fishing, doing exercise

 

Antonio Fajardo  40:02

Really?

 

Eric Bowden  40:03

I feel like that was a there was something like that.

 

Antonio Fajardo  40:06

Okay, that sounds about right. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  40:07

There's people living at the at the oceanfront or like the North End who, you know, their backyard is literally the beach. But but the city officials were like,

 

Antonio Fajardo  40:15

you can't go in and just walk. Yeah, I mean, you have to be working out. Yeah, that sounds about right. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  40:21

I just remember that being so like, the rules just seemed, I don't know. Just just sort of silly sometimes.  Yeah. I mean, some made sense. But just, you know, you question a little bit.  Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then there's like, the silent sort of undercurrent where was like, we were still seeing our friends.

 

Antonio Fajardo  40:37

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  40:37

Like you couldn't like, I don't know what the expectation was, necessarily, for most people were like, of course, we kept our circle small. But you were still going to like, there's no way you weren't going to see people.

 

Antonio Fajardo  40:48

Yeah, I mean, you there's still, I mean, you still needed to stay sane.

 

Eric Bowden  40:53

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  40:55

Yeah, cause I mean, us as humans, we need to interact with other human beings. So I mean, you can only look through our phone screen for so long. I mean, even if it was like, Let's just hang out very casually, like, at your house, that's fine. But, you know, maybe going out into public was not the greatest idea.

 

Eric Bowden  41:12

Yeah, absolutely. So, um, how do you think like Latinos were impacted by the pandemic? Do you like do you know many people that got vaccinated? And like, did you get vaccinated as well?

 

Antonio Fajardo  41:24

I did get vaccinated.

 

Eric Bowden  41:26

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  41:26

And I think everyone, at least within my, my Latino circle, I guess, all of us got vaccinated as well.

 

Eric Bowden  41:35

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  41:37

We it's very interesting. You've probably heard it before. We're like, I'm not sure if it's on this shoulder. Yeah. So like, every like, oh, you know, when we come in, we get like, vaccinated and stuff like that. So we were pretty use to, like, whatever shot you tell us, we gotta get, we'll get it. You know, I mean, as long as they help us in some way, shape or form. But, ya know, I mean, at least for the people that I knew, like, it was an issue, as soon as we heard there was some kind of vaccine, we were on it immediately. But in terms of how it affected us. I mean, I feel like it had as much effect as any other person, you know, at least here in the United States. I mean, we were all under the same exact laws. I think the biggest thing was not being able to see family outside of the country for a really long time. Because, you know, growing up, like, I didn't have the the luxury of like, oh, let's go to grandma's house. It was like literally down the road. Sure. You know, like, I couldn't just take a plane one day, just go to Honduras, it was like, no, like, travel was restricted. You know, you couldn't go back to your country, you couldn't come into the country as well. So I think I was the biggest, I guess, impact on the Latino community, you know, just not being able to see family outside of the country.

 

Eric Bowden  42:57

Yeah, like knowing you couldn't like even if you wanted to...

 

Antonio Fajardo  42:59

Yeah, like, even if like, it was like family in South Carolina. Yeah, I could drive to them. But it's like, what about my family In San Pedro, like, I can't see them so?

 

Eric Bowden  43:08

Absolutely. Yeah. I think this question, it's sort of trying to get it like that, oftentimes, for Latino communities that have like the extended family, like within them where they live in the United States. Yeah, they're very close. And that like often, like, like, the grandparents will live in the same house with the nuclear family and stuff like that. Could you speak to any of that like that, that you might witness firsthand as it comes to COVID? Or did you not... Did you not see that?

 

Antonio Fajardo  43:35

You mind repeating the question again?

 

Eric Bowden  43:36

Yeah, a lot of the, in the Latino community, like often like aunts and uncles, grandparents will live in the same house as like, the the, your personal nuclear family, right? Like, did you see any of that with like, people that you know, where families are being like, extra vigilant because they didn't want their grandparents to get sick? They live in the same house as them?

 

Antonio Fajardo  43:59

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  44:01

Anything is like that.

 

Antonio Fajardo  44:02

So yeah, not even just with grandparents, but also with like parents, you know, the, especially people who had like auto immune disorders, you know, they got very, very careful and so I guess one example, was my aunt and uncle, they're definitely up there in age. They also have, you know, a lot of, I guess, like chronic heart diseases and stuff like that. So they're at a very, very high risk. So they didn't live with us, but they, you know, they'd stayed in their house. And then, you know, my, my co worker, who's an older gentleman is like 50 years old, his parents live with them. And he had to stay with them because they're ninety years old, they were at high risk. But, and then I had a friend who I, quite literally, we could not see even if it was like for like a few minutes because like his mom has a autoimmune disorder. So like, we can go over there because like, you know, then she's there. So I think that was the biggest. I guess we're talking about, like, you know, grandparents staying within the the you said nuclear family.

 

Eric Bowden  45:16

Yeah. Yeah,

 

Antonio Fajardo  45:18

I think that was the biggest thing that I saw. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  45:20

Nice. Yeah. There's something I wanted to say that I can't remember. So this is like moving on towards kind of the last section of the interview. It's sort of some things you've already touched on. But yeah, mostly about the notion of belonging. So like, do you feel like you belong in Virginia, and you can speak about Virginia beach as well as Richmond?

 

Antonio Fajardo  45:42

Yeah, no, I definitely feel like I have a sense of belonging here. And I think if it wasn't, for us moving here to the United States, I wouldn't be the person that I am today, where I wouldn't have the opportunity that I would today. And I'm like, I guess growing up, for sure. I think my biggest worry was not being able to have a place in the Latino community actually, anymore. You know, like, I was, like, I knew I was gonna have a place here in the United States, certainly, you know, among Americans and everything like that. But I guess the Latino community, I thought I would never have an any kind of association with it. Because I thought maybe it's like, oh, well, you grew up here. So like, you're, you're not one of us. But I mean, especially when I started working my job at Crunch. I feel like not only was I that I feel like I was welcomed here in Virginia. But I was welcomed in the Latino community, because obviously, like, I'm doing something that not a lot of people within my community are doing... just created, like almost like a brand new branch and brand new. I guess, lifestyle area. So yeah, no, I definitely feel like I found my place. Virginia, Richmond or Virginia Beach. So.

 

Eric Bowden  47:05

That's awesome. Was there? Like, I know, you touched on language, was there anything else that prevented you from feeling at home? Maybe with the Latino community in the state? I'd suppose to go that route?

 

Antonio Fajardo  47:16

Yeah. Um, so you know, like earlier, I was talking about finding my equal balance between being able to speak Spanish and English. I feel like when I was a little out of balance when I was, you know, I mainly only knew how to speak English. The Spanish I knew it was just to get around the house, maybe, to just very basic communication. But if we're talking like, you know, having like banter between friends, you know, being able to make jokes, communicate, laugh, socialize, I feel like I wasn't great at that. And so for me, that was my biggest struggle when I first like found that first group of Latino friends in in high school, because everyone is like, your Spanish is so different. So Americanized, like you sound like you're like whitewashed, or whatever I would be called all these things. I'm like, no, no, I like I was born in Honduras. And a matter of fact, and that was something we didn't really talk about. Um, I feel like, I got so frustrated with that, like that. Even with other Hondurans, too, they would hear me speak and they're like, You don't sound under you just sound like you learned Spanish. Yeah. Um, so that was a whole nother thing in itself. Like, I had to go back to books, and I started learning Honduran slang and how to speak and act like a Honduran. Um, and I also like within the process, I feel like I started learning like, Oh, I'm a little bit more Honduran than I thought, though. Yeah, you know what I mean? Because like, when my mom would speak to me, like you have a Honduran accent And like, you say certain things that like a Honduran would say you just don't realize it because he grew up with us, you know. But then, you know, I started watching interviews, and I started like watching like, comedians who were Honduran. And the way they speak the way they were joke about stuff. So I started to pick it up. And then I just kind of added a bit more to like my artillery, and then eventually, I was able to, like socialize my friends and crack jokes and like, say, slangs and they're like, yeah, nah nevermind. You got it in you.

 

Eric Bowden  49:23

You had to like go through the like the trial.

 

Antonio Fajardo  49:25

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, I had to basically like relearn what it meant to be Honduran in the United States. So yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  49:32

That's so interesting. Yeah. Yeah, like in order to feel like to belong with the people who like you know, you share some sort of connection with because of your Latino like, you had to like study, you know...

 

Antonio Fajardo  49:44

yeah, I had to re study Yeah. Without growing up in the country. Pretty much. Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  49:48

Really, really cool.

 

Antonio Fajardo  49:49

Thank you Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  49:50

Yeah. Like have you ever omitted any part of your identity in order to fit in like, yeah, like any any cultural practices or stuff like that?

 

Antonio Fajardo  50:00

Uh can you rephrase like, omitted

 

Eric Bowden  50:02

Yeah. Like got, like, were there any parts of your identity that you got rid of in order to feel like you belong more?

 

Antonio Fajardo  50:08

Yeah, any parts of my identity, I guess. Are you are you talking like, just me as a person in general? Are you talking about like my, the my Honduran identity?

 

Eric Bowden  50:11

Yeah, I suppose like your parts of your Honduran identity that you removed in order to feel like you belong in the United States or Virginia.

 

Antonio Fajardo  50:27

Um, I wouldn't necessarily say like, removed, but I definitely like grown out of things a lot. Like, for example, like music. I obviously grew up listening to you know, reggaeton and like bachata and all that stuff, you know, Spanish music, and I thought, as a Hispanic, it's like, that's the only music that I should be listening to, or else I'll be looked at differently. But then eventually, it's like, I can listen to whatever I want. So like, you know, now it's like, yeah, and then there's a time in a place where I love to listen to, you know, trap artists, Spanish artist and stuff like that, but then dude I'm at the gym. I'm listening to Linkin Park.

 

Eric Bowden  51:05

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  51:05

Superheavan, like all that stuff. So I think, you know, not only is it with music, but it's like with just like, being able to do things. Like, just as a person, not because like I'm Honduran, because I'm Antonio. I mean, like I get to create my own story, I get to form my own personality. And so yeah, there are things that like I do, you know, just because it's just like, it's where I'm from, it's just the way that we are, but it's also like, I've formed my own views and my own personality, like, for example, when we were talking about, you know, religion earlier. You know, Honduras is a Catholic, very Catholic country, right. And so like, every person is, like, raised like Catholicism. But for me, like, I kind of grew out of my religion, it's not to say that I don't have my beliefs, or morals, but it's also like, if we're talking about practicing, that's one thing that I think I grew out of. So yeah,

 

Eric Bowden  52:08

Gotcha. Yeah. And that kind of goes along with what you're saying. Like, not necessarily understanding why people do things. Yeah. You were probably like, well, they're not doing these Catholic practices and stuff like that.

 

Antonio Fajardo  52:20

Yeah. But I think it was also a matter, it wasn't because like, Oh, they're not doing this on my to do either. I think it's like, I gained a new perspective. Why is like, it's not like, like, why are they doing that? It's like, why am I doing this? Yeah, I feel, you know, if I feel this way, and they feel this way.

 

Eric Bowden  52:38

Yeah, like comparing it to yourself?

 

Antonio Fajardo  52:39

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  52:40

Got you. So these last couple questions are kind of like big questions, or don't feel like you have to have like a clean answer. But obviously, there's like an issue of immigration that's talked about by politicians. I mean, there's an election cycle coming up. So things like this type of topics are coming up again. So what are your feelings about how, like, the issue of immigration is talked about by politicians?

 

Antonio Fajardo  53:06

Yeah, um, it's tough, for sure. Because I feel like there's, there's two sides of the coin to everything. And, you know, at least that's how it's affected me, like, and I'm open about this. I'm a DACA. recipient. So I have like a worker's visa. That's what helps me go to school, it's going to helps me be able to work the jobs that I do. But there's also a lot of stuff that I can't do, you know, like, for example, I can't vote, I can't leave the country, because, you know, if I, like, if I leave, I can't come in for another 10 years. So I think it's just like, the, like imposing demands, you know, and especially, like, in my case, where I literally, like, moved here when I was a year old, like, my recollection is the United States. Like, where I grew up, that's where I learned everything that I know that formed me. I would think that I would like, have those same rights and benefits as someone who actually was born here, but I was off by a year.

 

Eric Bowden  54:11

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  54:11

And so that's what throws me off. So it's like, it really makes you think it's like, wow, like the the immigration laws. And I feel like it's something that I've been preaching for years, like in every speech or paper that I had an opportunity to write about in school, it was about immigration, you know, and it's just like, I mean to sum it up, but it's, the system was a little messed up right now.

 

Eric Bowden  54:35

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  54:35

You know I mean, it's got its needs to be fixed. You know, I feel like there's got to be a better balance to it. You know, I mean, like, yes, we need control. You know, what I mean? We need to control who comes in and who comes out. But also it's like, I feel like the mindset we're in where it's like, everybody's a suspect.  You know I mean, it's got its needs to be fixed. You know, I feel like there's got to be a better balance to it. You know, I mean, like, yes, we need control. You know, what I mean? We need to control who comes in and who comes out. But also it's like, I feel like the mindset we're in where it's like, everybody's a suspect.

 

Eric Bowden  54:54

Oh, yeah. You know,

 

Antonio Fajardo  54:56

I hate that. Yeah, I don't like that that's the way that we look at things. Where its like, it's like everybody that comes in is super dangerous.

 

Eric Bowden  55:02

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  55:03

But no, like, I mean, you saw my parents, like they came here because you, like, offered us exactly what you have been preaching like, oh, land of the free like opportunity something and we took advantage of that, you know what I mean?

 

Eric Bowden  55:16

I was gonna say I don't know when in the process like the all these immigrants being sold the American Dream that became like a thing to penalize them for like the they should feel like are they they would have to hear things like that their criminal that they're because they're hearing the country. Yeah, despite that they're just looking for better opportunity.

 

Antonio Fajardo  55:35

Yeah. And I will admit, I mean, like, you know, especially coming from a country whose, you know, it's not the safest place in the world. There's a lot of violence, a lot of gangs. My people have done things that I'm not proud off. But I've also they've also done a lot of things that I'm very, very proud of. But it's also like, it's not a matter of because they're Latino, or anything like that. It's like, anybody can make bad choices.

 

Eric Bowden  56:04

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  56:04

Not just them.

 

Eric Bowden  56:05

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So if you had to, like, you know, like you said, like, at any opportunity, you can you'd like to discuss immigration and like, speak about that. And like, particularly with like, being a DACA recipient as well, I think that's such an interesting identity maybe to hold? What would you like to, like, tell the community or tell the general public about being a DACA recipient and being like an immigrant?

 

Antonio Fajardo  56:31

Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm very happy that at least that that there was a way for me to be able to, like, still have some of the opportunities that a person born here in the United States is able to have, but not everybody gets that luxury, or that that opportunity, like not everyone can become a DACA recipient. And, you know, the, there's certain qualifications. And so it's really tough to see where it's like, there's so many people that came here for opportunity, and that they, they want to do the things that I do, but they just can't they can't you know what I mean? They don't qualify for what I qualified for, which, you know, having that workers authorization. And it's not even, like, always, for good reason. Like, I get it like you have like criminal charges, your record? Probably can't qualify. But if it's like, yeah, no, I moved here, like, three years ago.

 

Eric Bowden  57:39

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  57:39

And I was like, sorry. Just can't.

 

Eric Bowden  57:41

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  57:41

It's like, why would you deny that person an opportunity? If they have the same values and morals and the same outlook that I do? You know what I mean? So.

 

Eric Bowden  57:47

Yeah. Yeah, that you would think that... Yeah, like you're making assumptions about their character just based on their identity, I suppose.

 

Antonio Fajardo  57:56

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  57:56

Yeah. Yeah. So um, yeah, like, if you could, I think the Latino community enrichment is so interesting, like that as like a sort of like a case study, or as an example to present to people as like, this is what a thriving community looks like, this is how diversity and within a community can help everybody.

 

Antonio Fajardo  58:15

Yeah.

 

Eric Bowden  58:16

Like, what would you like to share about, like the Latino community in Richmond, particularly if you could broadcast a message about about that?

 

Antonio Fajardo  58:23

Okay, I guess the the Latino people and Richmond, um, I mean, the first thing that comes to mind, just very, very hard working, but also very, very welcoming. Which is what I think the the vision that the Latino community here, projects is the vision that I feel like most politicians are not seeing, or at least a lot of people aren't seeing that they. Like, they work so hard, not only for themselves, but also to bring something to this country.

 

Eric Bowden  59:03

Absolutely.

 

Antonio Fajardo  59:04

You know, what it means to add value to it? Yeah, you know, like, every person that opens like a restaurant down here, like if you go down broad, you know, tons of Latin markets and, you know, Mexican restaurants and it's not just Hispanic people that go in there.

 

Eric Bowden  59:20

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  59:20

Americans as well. You know, construction, buildings, I mean, like building most of them Latinos, because, like, it's not only so that they can get paid, but it's also just like, so that we're able to have things that we have, you know, like the STEM building that recently opened, I remember would walk by it every single day and there was a big group of Honduran guys who you know, I met and they were really nice and you know, it's now they have a I have a building dedicated to my major that I can go to, all because of them, you know, and there wasn't just for a paycheck was because they want to they want to do the same thing that I do and make an impact.

 

Eric Bowden  1:00:02

Yeah, yeah. What would? Um, are there any parts of your life story that you would want to make known to the public? Like, is there anything that you would want them? If there's one thing that they could take from this interview? Like, is there a lesson that you would like to give out? 

 

Antonio Fajardo  1:00:16

I think it's what my parents have been teaching me this entire time. It's never settle for less, no matter what, no matter where you came from, or what your life story is, it's like, never just go for the bare minimum, because my parents, like we went from living in a one bedroom apartment, very cheap rent, barely being able to, you know, afford groceries, and being able to buy all the, you know, the luxuries that I want. To owning a company, to living in a house that we built, and we bought as well, and being able to pay for me and my brother to go to college, you know, and I'm also able to call them literally about to graduate, you know, college as well. And so, you know, and I see it, and I've seen a lot in my family as well, where it's like, I'll take what I can get, but it's just not the way I was. I was raised. It's like, don't just take we can get like, take what you want. Yeah, I mean, I think it's time that we we start looking for what we want, you know,

 

Eric Bowden  1:01:19

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Is there anything else that you might want to add that we haven't talked about? Or?

 

Antonio Fajardo  1:01:24

Um like, nothing that really comes to mind. I think you pretty much got a good gist of my story.

 

Eric Bowden  1:01:29

Yeah, absolutely.

 

Antonio Fajardo  1:01:30

That's awesome.

 

Eric Bowden  1:01:30

Yeah. So with that, that's all the questions I have for you. And thank you so much for speaking.

 

Antonio Fajardo  1:01:34

Yeah, absolutely.

 

Eric Bowden  1:01:35

Yeah.

 

Antonio Fajardo  1:01:35

All right.