Aaron Graham  00:02

Okay. So my name is Aaron Graham. I'm Oral History student at VCU. Today's date is the sixth, March 6, I believe, March 7. It is three o'clock. We're conducting this interview at Reynolds Community College at Parham Road. And I'm interviewing Mayerli Molina. Did I pronounced your name right?

 

Mayerli Molina  00:33

Close enough. Everybody butchers it. But it's Mayerli. 

 

Aaron Graham  00:36

Mayerli. Forgive me.

 

Mayerli Molina  00:38

Don't worry.

 

Aaron Graham  00:41

All right, we've already went over the demographic sheet. And you're born in Puerto Rico, but you moved here pretty... 

 

Mayerli Molina  00:54

Yes. 

 

Aaron Graham  00:54

Pretty soon, so you're, how old were you when you moved here?

 

Mayerli Molina  00:57

I believe like two years old,

 

Aaron Graham  00:59

Two years old. But are you still living with family members? 

 

Mayerli Molina  01:07

Yes. Currently, I'm with my mom and my dad and my older sister. 

 

Aaron Graham  01:11

Okay. And if I can ask, What do your parents do for a living?

 

Mayerli Molina  01:15

My dad's a truck driver. He used to do like gasoline and water. And I think, right now he's like asphalt. And my mom works in a school cafeteria. And my sister too? 

 

Aaron Graham  01:27

Yeah. What's your, what's your sister do if you don't mind me asking? 

 

Mayerli Molina  01:30

She does a lot of things. She has a real estate license. But she also is doing an internship at NASA.

 

Aaron Graham  01:37

Oh my god. 

 

Mayerli Molina  01:40

Yeah, I think that's it. 

 

Aaron Graham  01:41

How did she get in? So if you don't mind me asking, how did she get into NASA?

 

Mayerli Molina  01:44

Um, she used to work at Bed, Bath and Beyond. And they closed like all their stores. So she was applying to different jobs. And she applied to like, Target and, you know, like different commercial stores. And none of them took her and she applied to NASA as a joke. And they ended up taking her.

 

Aaron Graham  02:01

 Does she have any educational? Like? 

 

Mayerli Molina  02:03

Yes, she went to Reynolds for two years and transfer to VCU, also doing business. We, I kind of copied her. 

 

Aaron Graham  02:10

Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  02:10

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  02:10

How and how much older is your your sister?

 

Mayerli Molina  02:13

She's three years older than me. 

 

Aaron Graham  02:15

All right. And how? Yeah, I haven't. I didn't do the math and like when you're born, but...

 

Mayerli Molina  02:21

Yeah, I'm 19. 

 

Aaron Graham  02:22

19, okay. So you've lived in, you're from Puerto Rico. Do you remember anything about Puerto Rico if you move when you were three? 

 

Mayerli Molina  02:33

Yeah, not really. I mean, I remember the stuff that people tell me and my parents took videos of us when we were younger. So I remember like those parts. But yeah, we didn't go back often. The only time we went back was like 2011. When my mom's mom passed away. And it wasn't like an excursion type of thing. It wasn't fun. It was more, you know, a funeral service. So yeah, we we haven't gone back after that.

 

Aaron Graham  02:59

How many, do you have more, like, extended families still in Puerto Rico? 

 

Mayerli Molina  03:03

Yeah, most of my mom's family still lives there. Some of her uncle's moved to Florida. And but yeah, all of her family still lives there. And my dad's family. Well, my dad, he's kind of a mess. He was born in Washington, DC. But then he was raised in Puerto Rico. So he considers himself to be Puerto Rican. But his mother is Guatemalan, and his dad is Dominican. 

 

Aaron Graham  03:26

Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  03:27

Yeah. So most of his family lives in Maryland now. So all of them are like over here. He doesn't have any family except his dad who got deported to Dominican Republic.

 

Aaron Graham  03:39

Interesting. So do you feel like you still have like ties to the Caribbean? You know?

 

Mayerli Molina  03:43

Yeah. I mean, I have so much family in Dominican Republic that I don't know, because my grandfather liked women. He has a lot of children there too. So I have like a seven year old uncle, technically. So yeah, a lot of family over there that I don't know. And my mom's family isn't that big. She has. She's the oldest of three. She has a sister, younger sister, and then a younger brother. And her sister only had one son and her younger brother had what, two kids two daughters and I'm not really that close with them. My aunt's son ended up passing away like a couple of weeks ago, too. He was killed in, like, a carjacking.

 

Aaron Graham  04:32

Yeah, it's still in Puerto Rico. 

 

Mayerli Molina  04:35

Yeah, so she's, my mom ended up going over there to you know, spend time with her sister because that was intense. Yeah, that was her only son. 

 

Aaron Graham  04:43

So how old was her son? 

 

Mayerli Molina  04:45

23 

 

Aaron Graham  04:46

Oh my god. 

 

Mayerli Molina  04:46

Yeah, he was killed with his 19 year old girlfriend too. 

 

Aaron Graham  04:49

I'm sorry to hear that. 

 

Mayerli Molina  04:50

Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  04:53

Yeah, thanks. So other than going back recently for, since your grandmother's funeral, have you been back to, like, any other parts of the Caribbean or Puerto Rico?

 

Mayerli Molina  05:06

Nope. I've never been to Dominican Republic. Not not Puerto Rico since 2011. I don't remember that, to be honest. I remember going to the hospital a lot because my grandma obviously passed away. But no, nothing more after that. 

 

Aaron Graham  05:19

Right? Because you're now, I'm still trying to do math, but you could probably do it faster than me. How old are you? How old? Were you in 2011? 

 

Mayerli Molina  05:26

Oh, Lord.

 

Aaron Graham  05:27

You were six?

 

Mayerli Molina  05:29

 Probably around there, like six or seven. 

 

Aaron Graham  05:31

Okay. So living in Virginia, are there still aspects like a Puerto Rican culture that you celebrate? Is there a Puerto Rican community that you participate with?

 

Mayerli Molina  05:47

Um, no, not really. We usually just, there's no community here that we participate with, per se. Well, my mom did do a Facebook group for Puerto Ricans in Virginia, it was called bouliquas in Virginia. And she was active in that for a while and we would like, you know, do events like the Que Pasa festival that happens every year here? 

 

Aaron Graham  06:12

Where's the Que Pasa festival? 

 

Mayerli Molina  06:14

That's in like, Browns Island, Browns Island? Like, Belle Isle area? 

 

Aaron Graham  06:18

Right

 

Mayerli Molina  06:18

Downtown. They, it's a festival for Hispanic Latino people to go. And, you know, they have like food trucks and dancers. And...

 

Aaron Graham  06:28

Music.

 

Mayerli Molina  06:29

 Yeah, a lot of cultural things that have to do with Latino culture. So she would post on the Facebook page, and everybody would go out and, you know, what's the word? Flaunt that they're Puerto Rican.

 

Aaron Graham  06:46

But is it, like, was it more of a Hispanic? Or was it? Did you feel like it's, is it a Puerto Rican festival? Or is it like a sort of general Hispanic, Latin?

 

Mayerli Molina  06:54

Well, when I was younger, since my mom was very invested in this group, I think she was like, one of the founders of the group. You know, I thought it was like a Puerto Rican thing. I was like, oh, in Puerto Rico. But you know, as I got older, I realized that the festival is for Hispanic and Latinos. Yeah, but other than that, she stopped being involved in the group, you know, she was working and stuff. So yeah, no, no ties, really, to Puerto Rico here other than spending time with my family, I guess. And they would always, like, play music and grill meat and stuff. And I always felt like that was a part of my culture. 

 

Aaron Graham  07:26

So that's part of, yeah, like, sort of, so the music part, food part. That's kind of how you participate, sort of in Puerto Rican culture?

 

Mayerli Molina  07:34

Mmhmm, I think that's a, I don't know if it's, well, I don't have much relationship with Puerto Rico. So I don't really know what goes on over there. But to me, growing up and spending that time with my family and, you know, playing all these instruments playing all this music, singing songs, Christian songs, eating lots of food, like Caribbean food. Yeah, that I associate that with being Puerto Rican. 

 

Aaron Graham  08:00

Gotcha. Is there any specific food that you can think, like a dish that you can say? It's your favorite?

 

Mayerli Molina  08:07

Favorites? Oh, favorites are hard. 

 

Aaron Graham  08:10

Or top five? 

 

Mayerli Molina  08:11

Top five? Well, I'll list some Puerto Rican food.

 

Aaron Graham  08:14

Yeah, please do.

 

Mayerli Molina  08:15

Yeah, we eat a lot of plantains. So, there are these things that are kind of like plantain chips. They're called tostones. It's a deep fried plantain disks. And you kind of eat them with like guacamole or like sauce or anything. And like mayoketchup, just ketchup and mayonnaise. And we eat a lot of Mofongo, a lot of plantains. Mongos plant plantain based off it's like a plantain mash. Which stuffed with meat, any meat any kind, but eat a lot of pork too. I don't eat pork. My family doesn't eat pork for a different reason. 

 

Aaron Graham  08:51

Health or ethics or?

 

Mayerli Molina  08:53

Religion. Yeah, but they eat a lot of pork. You know? They love pork. Oh my gosh. What else? A lot of seafood, octopus, codfish. They like codfish. They make these codfish fritters called baccalaito. It's a kind of like a pancake, like a fried pancake. It's very greasy. Oh, they love grease, fried food too.

 

Aaron Graham  09:20

So what kind of, if you say it's greasy, but do they use like different types of oil to cook with other than like just vegetable oil?

 

Mayerli Molina  09:28

Just vegetable oil. Really? Yeah. Yeah, they have like a lot of stalls in Puerto Rico around the beach. Well, from what I'm told. And from videos that I've seen they have like different stalls and they fry up the food and you just like go. It's kind of like food trucks. But you watch them make the food in front of you and you eat and gorge yourself. Oh no, that food it's really greasy, too.

 

Aaron Graham  09:52

I know going I might be going on a food tangent. Off the recording, we already established that we both had histories working in the kitchen. But so, coming from like Puerto Rican food, do you feel like that's something that you'd be interested in cooking and presenting?

 

Mayerli Molina  10:09

Yeah, that's actually what I want to do I want to open up. Well, my goal is to open a Puerto Rican restaurant. Doing a business degree right now in hopes of hopefully creating networking and connections to see if I can accomplish that somehow. I really want to open a Puerto Rican restaurant here in Richmond, because...

 

Aaron Graham  10:25

I don't think there's, I don't think I've ever seen a Puerto Rican...

 

Mayerli Molina  10:27

I don't think so. That's why I'd like to take this opportunity and be the first one to share the culture with the community. And Richmond's, you know, big foodie city. So I think it would do well here. 

 

Aaron Graham  10:39

Right. But there's a niche that's missing that. I mean, look at Kuba, Kuba, it's sort of like, that's sort of the only kind of Cuban restaurant but they got of clientele from that. 

 

Mayerli Molina  10:52

Yeah, exactly. 

 

Aaron Graham  10:53

They've been around for over 20 years. 

 

Mayerli Molina  10:56

Really? 

 

Aaron Graham  10:56

Yes. 

 

Mayerli Molina  10:57

I didn't know that. 

 

Aaron Graham  10:57

Yes. 

 

Mayerli Molina  10:58

Yeah. So I feel like it would be successful here.

 

Aaron Graham  11:00

All right. Okay, I'm going to look at. So how about. Yeah, um, how about your childhood? How did you? How do you think that you? Did, you grew up differently? Identifying yourself as Puerto Rican or Hispanic? You think that other people?

 

Mayerli Molina  11:23

Um, I was always proud to be Puerto Rican, Hispanic, Latino, Latina. I had tried when I was younger, you know, I'd always, uh, every time like, a famous Puerto Rican artists would come up, and I talked to my friends and be like, oh, you know, this person? Like, no, you don't? I do. Because, you know, I'm from that culture. I didn't see myself as different like, not like, I saw myself as equal to me as everybody else. But I just, I had that pride and like sense of, like, that's me. That's my culture. Nobody can take that away from me. But I never saw myself diminished from others or like, less than others than my peers or classmates or anything like that.

 

Aaron Graham  12:04

But were other classmates. Did you have any other Puerto Rican classmates?

 

Mayerli Molina  12:09

Um, there was always like, a couple. Not an astounding amount, but like, maybe like one in each class. Yeah, with some culture like that.

 

Aaron Graham  12:18

But just generally, you've kind of felt like, you know, even being, like, do you feel like Richmond is diverse at all? Are that there was kind of a mix of different cultures?

 

Mayerli Molina  12:29

Yeah, I always felt like it was kind of diverse. Maybe not an elementary school. I feel like there were more American people in elementary school. But as I got to high school, because the, the, what's called class sizes get bigger in high school. I thought my high school was very diverse. Yeah, a lot of different people. We had like a cultural day and everything. And a lot of people came up and showed up and showed off their cultures with like, the food that they ate, or the outfits that they wore, the music, the dances that they listened to is, yeah, I felt like it was very diverse. A melting pot of sorts. 

 

Aaron Graham  13:03

But, I'm trying to think how to follow this up, like, the growing up. What, actually yeah, this is where I want to, like ask you, what part of? We already established that you're from Henrico. Which part of town did you? What was your school? Like element-? What was your elementary school? 

 

Mayerli Molina  13:27

Elementary school? I went to two we first started at Jackson Davis Elementary School. And then my third grade I moved to Mayberry Elementary School. 

 

Aaron Graham  13:28

What part of town is that?

 

Mayerli Molina  13:40

It's like, Tuckahoe area.

 

Aaron Graham  13:42

Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  13:42

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  13:44

So more sort of West. 

 

Mayerli Molina  13:45

West End. Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  13:47

And then high school? 

 

Mayerli Molina  13:49

High school, middle school. I went to, oh! I moved to Florida for two years. Yeah, I always forget about that. 

 

Aaron Graham  13:56

Let's talk about Florida. 

 

Mayerli Molina  13:57

Yeah. Well, Middle School. My sixth and seventh grade. I went to Tuckahoe Middle School. And then eighth grade and freshman year of high school. My parents decided to move to Florida, because they were running away from the cold. They didn't want to buy -- their words, not mine. 

 

Aaron Graham  14:15

Yeah.

 

Mayerli Molina  14:15

They didn't want to buy a house here because of the snow and it's cold. So they're like, oh, Florida, Florida is warm. And my mom's uncle lives in Florida. So we moved to like the Jacksonville-St. John's area. More St. John's Ponte Vedra Beach. 

 

Aaron Graham  14:28

Okay.

 

Mayerli Molina  14:29

 For my eighth and ninth grade, um,

 

Aaron Graham  14:33

Any family that lived down there, like, what was the draw to Jacksonville?

 

Mayerli Molina  14:37

I don't know why they went there. I remember taking a trip once to that area, and then they didn't travel anywhere else. But they were like, Yeah, that's where we want to be. I think, I think it was because the schools were really good. The high school was like one of the best high school in Florida. I think, they were very extreme in everything. Like, their center was like biomedical engineering. Like why would? It was crazy and like the, their GPAs were like the average was like a 4.0. Yeah, they were intense. So I think they landed in that area because they wanted my sister and I to get a good education. And they saw that the schools were rated very, really highly.

 

Aaron Graham  15:16

So you're in seventh and eighth than your sister's three years older than you. So did she graduate high school?

 

Mayerli Molina  15:21

In Florida. 

 

Aaron Graham  15:22

In Florida. 

 

Mayerli Molina  15:22

Yes, yes. eighth and ninth grade. Yeah. My sister. She ended up graduating early from high school in Florida. But she was also held a year back when we first moved from Puerto Rico. She was supposed to be in first grade, but they held her back to kindergarten again, because she didn't speak English. And not that she didn't know the knowledge or anything. She knew the information. She just knew it in a different language.

 

Aaron Graham  15:46

Did you ever have any E-?

 

Mayerli Molina  15:49

I did. I did have ESL classes. Um, yeah, I think that was in my Jackson Davis elementary school. They put me in ESL classes. And my mom got mad. Because my English was good. I was raised here, you know, I went to daycares. And I picked up the English pretty fast. So my mom told them that she didn't want me an ESL anymore, because, I think, she associated that with them being racist in a way, you know.

 

Aaron Graham  16:16

You think there's a stigma with like, ESL classes and public high, like public education? Or- 

 

Mayerli Molina  16:23

I think there can be. You know, some people always have their point of views and perspectives of everything, but,

 

Aaron Graham  16:32

Well, how about your, your point of view?

 

Mayerli Molina  16:34

My point of view? Well, if you're coming from another country, and you know, I think people can take advantage of ESL and like, diminish you because you're an ESL classes, but I think that's like a that's like a racist thing. You know, if you don't like people, because they're in ESL, you're kinda racist. 

 

Aaron Graham  16:53

Yeah, by definition. Or culturally biased.

 

Mayerli Molina  16:59

But it's a class that's meant to help people, you know, learn the language and learn everything of the culture that you're embarking upon. So, but I think my mom thought that it was holding me back like they were trying to hold me back from progressing with my language skills, I guess. And yeah, where was I? ESL classes?

 

Aaron Graham  17:25

Yeah, I know, we're jumping around. Yeah, I want to follow up on ESL a little bit. Do you think that there? Do you remember any other people in the ESL classes that were your peers? And how did they fare in school compared to yourself?

 

Mayerli Molina  17:40

Ummmm.

 

Aaron Graham  17:41

And that's kind, that's sort of complicated, but. 

 

Mayerli Molina  17:44

Yeah, I'm trying to remember, that was so long ago.

 

Aaron Graham  17:46

If you're, you said, You're in first grade?

 

Mayerli Molina  17:49

I think, it was like, I remember, like, second or third grade. I think my mom pulled me out in third grade. 

 

Aaron Graham  17:55

Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  17:56

I'm trying to remember, I remember like, other kids had just moved to Virginia, you know, from their respective countries. And I think they were like struggling a little bit more. I think I remember like hanging back, because I already knew the language, I already had built it up. I didn't really necessarily need to be in those classes anymore, which is why my mom pulled me out. But um, yeah, I think I had, I was more at advantage because I had moved when I was much younger, and learn the language faster. Yeah, but my classmates and peers, I remember my the teacher like sitting sitting down with them and setting them aside. And, you know, making sure that they were pronouncing everything properly and going over the words more with them rather than me.

 

Aaron Graham  18:43

And also, sometimes there's an assumption, I think, with ESL, that it's more sort of Hispanic, Latino, Latina base, but were there other, other cultures?

 

Mayerli Molina  18:54

Yeah, there were. 

 

Aaron Graham  18:55

Other nationalites in there, too. 

 

Mayerli Molina  18:56

Yeah. I remember a lot of like, Middle Eastern people. And like, Indian people, I believe. I don't remember where they were from. Is that Middle Eastern? Is India and Middle East?

 

Aaron Graham  19:08

India is Asia.

 

Mayerli Molina  19:10

Asia.

 

Aaron Graham  19:10

I think. Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  19:11

Yeah. Then that region. 

 

Aaron Graham  19:12

South Asian. Okay. All right. Well, talking about, since we're still talking about school, what, and we talked a little bit about this off mic, but I would like to get this, you know, recorded. What do you think? What's your education trajectory, like, past high school? You're in Reynolds now. We talked a little bit about you graduating with a business degree. So?

 

Mayerli Molina  19:13

What are my plans? 

 

Aaron Graham  19:17

Well, we didn't talk, I think we didn't record. You're planning on transferring into?

 

Mayerli Molina  19:46

Yes, VCU. I plan on transferring in the fall and graduating from Reynolds, my business degree in May. I already applied to VCU. I think they just have to approve my application because it's direct transfer, but planning on attending VCU in the fall for two years. Obtaining my bachelor's degree in business administration. Concentration, probably, entrepreneurship or management, I'm not sure which direction I want to go in. Because I want to open a restaurant. I know which one would fit best for that? But after that, I want to get, what is that called? Not an internship, but like, what is that called?

 

Aaron Graham  20:17

Well describe it. 

 

Mayerli Molina  20:29

It's the apprenticeship. Apprentice. Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  20:34

Yeah, going into, so like another business? 

 

Mayerli Molina  20:38

Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  20:39

Seeing kinda how it's built. 

 

Mayerli Molina  20:41

Yeah, learning the background, you know, like financial stuff and placing orders and, you know, budgeting and stuff like that. 

 

Aaron Graham  20:50

Getting your food cost down. 

 

Mayerli Molina  20:52

Exactly. So yeah, that's what I want to do afterwards. And then hopefully, while I'm at VCU, I can also create more networking connections and find investors for the restaurant. And yeah, that's sort of my plan. So far hopefully. 

 

Aaron Graham  21:08

Well, that's cool. I wish you luck, too. I mean, yeah, I think, you know, cooking, and that business is, it's awesome and fascinating. Let's talk about, so we talked about education, we talked about school. How about, did you grow up with religion?

 

Mayerli Molina  21:30

Oh, yes. Okay, so my mom was raised Seventh Day Adventist, and my dad was raised Pentecostal. Both of them, before they got married to each other, they knew that they wanted a partner who was religious and believed in God and believed in the Bible and everything. And that's how they got together, because, you know, both of them had those ideals. But, um, when we were growing up, like, elementary school age, like seven, eight, me, my sister, my parents knew that they wanted to raise us, and the Bible, and you know, God and religion and everything, but they didn't know which one to pick. So there was this constant argument about, you know, Seventh Day Adventists is right. Or Pentecostal is right.

 

Aaron Graham  22:13

What did you think, and now I'm interrupting you and I apologize, but I'm interested in this. What do you think are the major differences between Pentecostal and Seventh Day?

 

Mayerli Molina  22:23

They're different, they're different. Oh, my gosh, oh, well. During that time, they took us, like, every Saturday to the Seventh Day Adventist Church and then the Sunday after that, to the Pentecostal church, and we were like that for like a year and going back and forth, each every weekend from both congregations. Adventist Church, they're very, like, strict with their rules, like most of them are vegetarian, and it's a Saturday church. They believe the Saturdays a seventh day and that's the day of the Lord. That that's the day that you're supposed to, you know, rest and everything.

 

Aaron Graham  22:54

Sort of, kind of like that sort of Abrahamic Judaism.  Right. 

 

Mayerli Molina  22:58

And, yeah, vegetarian, they don't eat pork, they follow the diet and the Bible, which is like no shellfish, no pork.  Yeah, exactly kind of like kosher. And they're very mellow. Like the ladies. They wear skirts, like they're only allowed to wear skirts, they're not supposed to wear pants. And yeah, then they take resting on the seventh day very seriously, like, you don't do any work. You don't cook, you don't clean, you just rest. And then Pentecostal churches are very eccentric, or at least the Latin ones, the Latino ones. Very eccentric, they speak in tongues, and they get filled with the Holy Spirit, and they throw themselves around on the ground. But they think Sunday is the seventh day and they rest on Sundays, but they don't really rest. You know, they think, they just go to church and like, you can go out and you know, afterwards, you know, it's just part of their day, and then they eat pork, which they argued about a lot. 

 

Aaron Graham  23:24

Yeah, so that was kind of the family strife a little bit. So who won out?

 

Mayerli Molina  24:07

Who won out? Neither of them. Yes. They ended up compromising. During this time, like my parents, they were really arguing with each other, like to the point where like, they were about to get divorced over this argument. Yeah, it almost split the family apart. But both of them started praying. You know, like God show us, like, the the way that we're supposed to go. And my dad asked my mom a question, he asked her, Are you a Seventh Day Adventist because you believe that Seventh Day Adventist is the right religion? Or a Seventh Day Adventists because you grew up that way? And that really started working in my mom's head and she was like, Lord, I don't know. I don't know what to do. And my dad was looking up videos and evidence on YouTube, trying to prove my mom wrong. That Sunday was the day of the Lord and trying to use the Bible to backup his stance and he couldn't find it. He couldn't find it anywhere. Because his main thing was that they had to use the Bible to backup the argument because the Bible is the Word of the Lord. 

 

Aaron Graham  25:08

Interpretation. 

 

Mayerli Molina  25:10

Yeah, yeah. And so he couldn't find any, anything that had to do with Sunday being the day of the Lord, or then, you know, speakers or pastors, you know, defending his point, but not using the Bible. So until he found this one man, he was Mexican, but he lived in Israel for a while. And he was preaching about the day of the Lord being Saturday, but using the Bible, and so when he started listening to this guy, he started realizing, like, whoa, like my, his world got turned around. He started researching, doing more research on his perspective on religion. I don't like to say that we like are religious because I think religions are manmade and everything manmade has flaws. You know, so yeah, so anyways, they started compromising. And they're listening to this guy who's a Messianic Jew. So that's sort of where they both landed. And we've been attending a Messianic Jewish congregation every Saturday for since 2013- 2014. Yeah, so both of them, like after my dad found those videos, he showed them to my mom and my mom's world got turned upside down, too. And that's where we landed.

 

Aaron Graham  26:28

Well, there's some, you know, just as an outsider, and I don't, you know, I don't have like a lot of sort of personal knowledge about this. But it looks like that there's some, with the Seventh Day Adventist, there's some sort of Judaism, kind of, that's in that with the Saturday, and the shellfish, and pork. So it's almost kind of like that's a good compromise. 

 

Mayerli Molina  26:54

Yeah, it is. It's, I like to say, it's like, Christian Jews, like Christianity, but with Jewish traditions, because we still believe in Jesus and that he was the Messiah, unlike Orthodox Jews who don't believe that. 

 

Aaron Graham  27:09

Is there a lot of, in that denomination? Are there a lot of Latin, Latino, Latina also people, that are in the church? What are, what's the better way to phrase this? What's the diversity within the church?

 

Mayerli Molina  27:26

Oh, there's a lot of diversity. I mean, it's a pretty small congregation, because not many people know of this religion. But, everybody there is different. Most of them, I would say most of them, like 50% of them were Jewish, like they were from Israel, or had Israel roots. And they switched to Messianic Judaism, from Orthodox, and then other ones are from everywhere. We got Ukrainians and people from France and Panama, and Puerto Rico. Peru, Brazil, like the other 50% is like from all around the world. Well, yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  28:08

That's cool. So do you meet like a lot of different people in the congregation and kind of get like, a lot of different views on the on the world? 

 

Mayerli Molina  28:16

Yeah. We kind of have a couple of families that we hang out with most of the Saturdays, the the French family and the Ukrainian family. And you know, us being Puerto Rican, it's an interesting mix of seeing the different cultures interact with each other. Yeah,

 

Aaron Graham  28:35

Actually, that's pretty beautiful. Sorry about that. Thanks for sharing that with me. Since we, I guess, we hadn't talked about this, though, too, the club that you're a part of at Reynolds. And this is part of the reason why I got into contact with you was the Latin American Student Association. What does this club? Like? What's the role that you guys do at Reynolds Community College?

 

Mayerli Molina  29:05

Yeah, so we're the first Latin American club at Reynolds ever. We started this fall semester. So 2023. And this is our second semester at Reynolds. We're just trying to share our culture with the community college, just trying to raise awareness or, you know, share different things about our culture with people who are interested, or with everybody, honestly. Um, yeah, we incorporate dancing or like food or traditions, a lot of holidays that come up like Three Kings or Cinco de Mayo, stuff like that. Carnival, and we host events where we share that specific thing. And we incorporate an activity usually has to go along with it, like we did, the past event that we did was a carnival themed bingo because bingos really popular amongst Latin culture. 

 

Aaron Graham  30:03

Actually, I saw that. Professor Quintero she shared that actually with his class, yes. I'm one of the embedded tutors in Spanish 102. 

 

Mayerli Molina  30:12

Yeah?

 

Aaron Graham  30:13

Yes.

 

Mayerli Molina  30:13

Okay. Yeah. We-

 

Aaron Graham  30:15

We talked about that a little bit too, off mic. 

 

Mayerli Molina  30:19

Oh, yeah. Yes. And then our next event is March 18. We're doing a Salsa y mi Salsa. We're doing salsa lessons and then having salsa. And then we're doing another dance lesson April 1. Bachata y horchatta. We're doing Bachata, then having horchatta. Yeah, little food theme we have going and then our last event of the year, we're gonna try and do a Cinco de Mayo theme. And maybe we're trying to get a mariachi band to come and play. We'll see. Yeah. So it's just stuff like that, where we get to share a little bit of our culture. And everybody seems to really enjoy it so far. I think we have, I think we're one of the clubs with the most member engagement because it's really hard getting people out of their houses nowadays. 

 

Aaron Graham  30:44

Yeah, my personal experience when I was going to Reynolds's, there wasn't a lot of club engagement. But I also went during COVID, too, when it made that very complicated,

 

Mayerli Molina  31:19

Yeah, after COVID too, is like, and then nobody wants to leave. Like there's some clubs that only get like three people to come to their events. And yeah, that's, that's just the way it is. But we've been lucky. And we've been, you know, using social media and posting flyers everywhere. And I think our officers are really invested in member engagement, too. So you know, we, every time we see somebody new, we're like, hey, look, this is, this is our club, you should come, you should come meet with us. And they ended up coming in, they ended up staying. So, that's... 

 

Aaron Graham  31:52

Well, if it's fun. 

 

Mayerli Molina  31:52

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And incentives too. You know, like gift cards or like doughnuts. Free stuff. People love free stuff.

 

Aaron Graham  31:59

I think if you have free food, students will come. 

 

Mayerli Molina  32:01

Yeah, exactly. That's what we do. 

 

Aaron Graham  32:05

Well, how many students do you think that you pull like saying, just in a regular event? Like, the bingo, how many students did you have? 

 

Mayerli Molina  32:13

At least 10. I think bingo, we had like, 17. Yeah. And then I think one of our large, Professor Quintero, he's been a very big help, because he's been incentivizing the events too. Like, oh, if you come to this event that the Latin Americans listen to, I'll give you like five extra credit points. And that's when everybody wants to come. Like, we did a movie night. We played Coco, the movie, and like that one had like 23 people come because he allowed the extra credit points. So having an advisor with that power is helpful, too.

Aaron Graham  32:46

Yeah, that's good. But also sometimes I think, you know, maybe students need that little bit of push to be, to socialize. And then the next time they're like, why, I just want to come because it's a fun event. 

 

Mayerli Molina  32:59

Yeah, exactly. And they can just bring their friends too, you know, so they have somebody to talk to, and then we have more people to come. 

 

Aaron Graham  33:06

How about while we're on the club? And since it's sort of, you know, it's kind of a broad, what sort of different ethnicities are represented in the club?

 

Mayerli Molina  33:18

Yeah, so we're, we're a Latin American club, but everybody's welcome. Everybody's welcome to join. Um, I think a lot of Middle Eastern people like to come. We've seen a lot of people from, like Bangladesh or like Nepal and other people. There's a Muslim Student Association, I think here. That started recently, too, and they've, a lot of their members have come and joined us in our activities. And Fabiola. She's the president, her boyfriend is Arab, too. I think he's from Morocco. So she has a lot, yeah. So she's able to communicate with them better and understand their culture more. And I think she's been able to bring people from that background too. Yeah, I think they, the, that ethnicity is the one that attends the most along with like Americans and Latin American people, too. Yeah, there's a good mix of people.

 

Aaron Graham  34:20

And there's, you know, positive engagement and you think that there's any, what are suggestions from the students? Do they, do they suggest sometimes, like, things to do?

 

Mayerli Molina  34:29

We offer them. We give them like surveys and questionnaires and some people fill it out. Some people don't. There's, they don't really leave suggestions. I think they know that we're doing the best that we can and we, dance lessons was a big one, like people want to learn dance lessons, they want to learn the traditional dances. So we've been trying to promote that a lot. And we've found teachers to give lessons for that specific thing.

 

Aaron Graham  35:00

Well, thanks for talking, talking to me about that. I'm trying to, let's see, well, we've covered a lot of ground already. I do have a question. I don't think this is applicable since you moved here when you're so young, it talks about migration journey. But let's talk, let's just go ahead and cover it. If there's anything really to discuss, like, is there anything that you could say about coming from another country and living in Virginia? Like, is there any, you know, if you got here when you're, you said, four, or three? 

 

Mayerli Molina  35:39

Two, two, almost three, I believe. 

 

Aaron Graham  35:42

Okay. Is the Praxis, that you have to pass, to teach? 

 

Mayerli Molina  35:43

Yes. Well, we don't really go through any migration process, like with immigration, we're already citizens. So it's honestly like, yeah, it's been set. Like, This club has shown me a lot with different people and their immigration process. Because you know, I've never had to deal with that before, because I'm a citizen, luckily, but like, interacting with these people, these members of the clubs, and they're telling me about their status, and I'm like, Whoa, I've never had to deal with that before, and I'm still counted as Latino, Latina, Hispanic, whatever. And I think that's, that's pretty interesting. Because like, they talk about their struggles and all the stuff that they'd have to deal with and how they can get approved for things but aren't approved for other things. And, um, wow, that's, it's, I can't imagine even going through that. And it's more complicated than I anticipated it to be. But my process was pretty simple. We just moved from Puerto Rico. Well, my parents made the decision to move from here, because both of them lost their jobs. And the government in Puerto Rico isn't the best, like it's pretty corrupted. The government just, you know, steals money from the island and politicians, you know, just want to save face. But yeah, both of them lost their jobs, and they weren't able to find anything else. So they decided to make the move over. But my mom went to school for Childhood Education. She wanted to be a teacher like that was her goal, her dream she wanted to teach elementary school. Yes, my dad never went to college, but he graduated high school and decided to, he was in the military, too, for a while, but decided to come over here and find, get a CDL and become a truck driver. But my mom was unable to ever she's been trying to take the teaching exam here. And it's just been so hard for her because it's in English, and you know, the language barrier. And, Yes, she's taken it like three or four times and she hasn't been able to pass it. And I think it's the math section, too. That trips you up too, because she's not good at math. I mean, math is hard. 

 

Aaron Graham  37:56

Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  37:56

Yeah, so she, she's never been able to get a teaching job here. She's worked at daycares and stuff like that. And right now, she's working at a school cafeteria, which is like, sort of been able to what's the word?

 

Aaron Graham  38:13

Working at school cafeteria to sort of? 

 

Mayerli Molina  38:16

Feed feed, you know, her dreams, her goals, her desires. But I think she's getting pretty tired of it, too.

 

Aaron Graham  38:24

Well, to drop a little bit of my story into, I did school cafeteria for a little bit after I worked in restaurants, where I worked a Collegiate in the West End. 

 

Mayerli Molina  38:33

Oh, really?

 

Aaron Graham  38:33

Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  38:34

How was that like? 

 

Aaron Graham  38:35

It was okay, again, I don't want to talk about too much of myself on tape. But it did leave me. I think being close to education and being in a school. I was like, it made me sort of interested in learning and teaching. 

 

Mayerli Molina  38:50

Yeah. Yeah. She, that's she's always wanted to be a teacher that she just hasn't had the opportunity to. And she's applied to jobs to where she's been like, an assistant teacher even. And she's like, gone to the interviews, but it's never worked out for her. And I think she's trying to find a job for next year. Like, she doesn't want to work in the school cafeteria anymore. But it's been really hard for her. And she has her degree. She has her bachelor's degree in childhood education, but just the test and the application process and the interviews. It's just hasn't been in her favor. 

 

Aaron Graham  39:24

But she got her degree in Puerto Rico? 

 

Mayerli Molina  39:26

Mmmhmm

 

Aaron Graham  39:26

And then just the challenges of sort of applying that in the United States?

 

Mayerli Molina  39:30

Yeah. Yeah. She's been constantly like renewing her teaching license too, in Puerto Rico, but nobody wants to take her here. 

 

Aaron Graham  39:38

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. 

 

Mayerli Molina  39:39

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  39:40

It's a bummer.

 

Mayerli Molina  39:40

It is a bummer. She's, she's trying really hard and she's working really hard. It's something that she wants to do something she enjoys to do. But and you know, everybody's always talking about how you need more teachers. And you know, she's like, here you're trying to apply and nobody, nobody wants her.

 

Aaron Graham  39:54

My mom was a career teacher and my partner is also a career teacher too. So I'm surrounded by teachers.  And I think it's an admirable thing to do, too. I mean, yes, the world needs teachers. And then we did talk about family members still in, still in Puerto Rico, we covered that. I apologize. This is why I need to condense this into parts, too. 

 

Mayerli Molina  40:01

Yeah.  Take your time. 

 

Aaron Graham  40:43

Okay. What do you think are the biggest obstacles that you have encountered in Richmond? Do you think, can you trace any of them back to having like, a Latino/Latina heritage or a Hispanic heritage? 

 

Mayerli Molina  41:01

Hmmm, obstacles.

 

Aaron Graham  41:06

Or it doesn't have to, Or, it doesn't have to be, you know, it doesn't have to be heritage based, but just any sort of obstacles that you've encountered living in Virginia or living in Henrico. Or just living?

 

Mayerli Molina  41:24

Oh, well, I guess in Florida, in Florida, like they, you know, you think there would be a lot more Hispanic Latino people there, but there we're not. Wait, does this have to be in Virginia?

 

Aaron Graham  41:38

No. Well, I mean, no, it doesn't have to be. I mean, because this is, this is your story. 

 

Mayerli Molina  41:44

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  41:45

And you live in Virginia now. But yeah, what's your? Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  41:48

Um, there was only like 10, Latino, Latina Hispanic people in that school in Florida. And like, 90% of that school was American white people. And then like, like five, black, African American people, in the whole school. And so all of the Latino people just like, made a group, you know, like, oh, it mixed together. Yeah, but, um, that was different. Because they were all rich. And that school was, it was intense, you know, then they all grew up there. So they all everybody knew each other, and they just had like, their own little bond, and they'd go golfing on the weekends. Golf was a big thing over there. But yeah, it was a different, different environment. Because I feel like coming from Virginia, I feel like it's pretty diverse compared to that school, that specific area, Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida. What is, just that, that was different. I didn't feel like I belong there. That's why we ended up moving back to be honest, because I didn't feel, we didn't feel like we belonged there. And everything was really expensive. Oh my gosh, we didn't buy a house over there. We couldn't afford a house. We couldn't even afford an apartment really. We had like a small little closet for an apartment. But that was a struggle.

 

Aaron Graham  43:11

We talked a little bit about the religion thing. But do you think that religion and the culture sort of brought your parents back to Richmond?

 

Mayerli Molina  43:18

Yeah, I think so. Because that congregation that we landed upon, that feels like family to us, because, you know, our family, our actual family. My dad's side is Pentecostal. They don't agree or understand with our beliefs, you know, because Saturday and Sunday and not eating pork, they think we're weird. They're out, we're outsiders, but the congregation you know, people who actually understand and they, they agree with what we agree and they believe what we believe is that is our family and not having that in Florida. We didn't really have a congregation like that in Florida. That support. We ended up moving back, well for that, and like financial reasons, and we had nobody in Florida and it was, it was like another world. We didn't belong there. So,

 

Aaron Graham  43:21

That's the only, sort of, biggest obstacle really kind of like living in the United, you've kind of feel like Richmond compared to Jacksonville... 

 

Mayerli Molina  44:20

Is yeah, this is home.

 

Aaron Graham  44:23

Yeah, I've never I've only driven through Jacksonville, so I can't, I can't explain anything, but it's interesting. And then we did talk. I guess we I feel like we haven't covered your father's side of the family. We did talk about your mom's side and Puerto Rico, but what was your and you said that your dad's side is a little bit more spread out. But are there any more relatives that are in the United States? 

 

Mayerli Molina  44:48

Yes. My dad is actually the oldest of five. It's him. It's boy, girl, boy, girl, boy.

 

Aaron Graham  44:57

Okay, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy.

 

Mayerli Molina  45:02

Yes. So he's the oldest of five. He's actually turning 50 this year. But, why are you laughing?

 

Aaron Graham  45:12

I'm laughing because I'm turning 50 this year. 

 

Mayerli Molina  45:14

Really? When's your birthday? 

 

Aaron Graham  45:16

July 18. 

 

Mayerli Molina  45:18

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  45:18

Is he gonna be older than me? Or am I gonna... 

 

Mayerli Molina  45:20

Yeah, he's, he's older than, than you. But his birthday... 

 

Aaron Graham  45:22

By a couple of months. 

 

Mayerli Molina  45:23

Yeah. His birthday is April, April 6.

 

Aaron Graham  45:28

Try not to talk about myself.

 

Mayerli Molina  45:30

No, but I wanted to know, because my coworker has the same birthday as my dad like, exactly. The year and everything. But he's, he's the man. Like he. Hispanic culture always puts the man at the head of the house. 

 

Aaron Graham  45:45

Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  45:45

And, 

 

Aaron Graham  45:46

Machismo.

 

Mayerli Molina  45:46

 Yeah. So and he him being the oldest of five and the oldest boy, you know, he has a lot of authority in the family. Um, I was, I'm the only youngest sibling in my nuclear family. Like my mom's oldest of three and my sisters oldest of two. So I was raised by sharks. They're, they're intense people. Like it's different. It's different. Especially because they have like multiple siblings, but like my sister, oh, my gosh, they're so bossy is, yeah, it's different. But um, 

 

Aaron Graham  46:20

Sharks. That's funny.

 

Mayerli Molina  46:23

They, yes. So they're, his family is kind of all in Maryland for the most part. Yeah. His sister, my aunt, his second sister. Uncle, other aunt. The middle three are in Maryland. Oh, and my grandparents were divorced. His parents were divorced. My my grandfather lives in Dominican Republic. And my grandma lives with my aunt in Maryland, too. Okay, so yes. So them being divorced, when they were like, kind of like in the teenage age made my dad kind of level up even more, because he had to like step in and like help out his mom. And they had a printing. Yeah, they had a printing business. In Dominican. In Puerto Rico, it moved to Dominican Republic. And my dad wanted to take that over, and everything but family drama. He ended up joining the military instead.

 

Aaron Graham  47:23

So being in, like, joining the military in Puerto Rico, you're still in the United States Armed Services?

 

Mayerli Molina  47:30

Yes. He was in the army. For eight years, I believe? Yeah. He wasn't there when I was born.

 

Aaron Graham  47:38

He was still stationed in Puerto Rico? Or stationed? Did that bring him back to the United States when he was in the army?

 

Mayerli Molina  47:44

I think we moved to the United States when he was still in the army. 

 

Aaron Graham  47:53

Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  47:53

Yes. But he, he traveled a lot. What does that call them? Like military terms? Deployed? Yeah. So he got deployed a lot, to like, Kuwait and Iraq and Portugal, like all around Europe, in that side of the world.

 

Aaron Graham  48:16

Did you ask your dad about, like, if he was in any active,  like military situations about that? 

 

Mayerli Molina  48:23

Yeah. Apparently he was like, I don't know what this means exactly. But he was, like, in Iraqi Freedom. I don't know what that means.

 

Aaron Graham  48:28

Iraqi freedom, if I remember correctly, was the post 911 Iraqi conflict that should have happened 2003-2004. So this is right around the time that you're, that you come along. 

 

Mayerli Molina  48:44

Yeah. Yeah. So he was there during that, and that's why he was all over there.

 

Aaron Graham  48:50

And that was active. Yeah. That's active. War. 

 

Mayerli Molina  48:54

Crazy. I didn't know that. 

 

Aaron Graham  48:58

So I didn't know. Yeah, I'm, again, like I had, my, my father was in the military. And I didn't ask him about, he was in, this was a long time ago. He was in the after effects of World War Two in Germany in the late 40s. And he passed away when I was younger, but I never asked him about, I just didn't know if it was cool to ask, you know, veterans about, you know,

 

Mayerli Molina  49:26

Yeah, he's pretty open about it. It's just, he doesn't talk a lot. You know, he's more kind of reserved. But yeah, he's, he's cool with asking, Where are we talking about? Men? 

 

Aaron Graham  49:38

Talking about machismo. 

 

Mayerli Molina  49:40

My dad's family? Yes. 

 

Aaron Graham  49:41

And your dad's family? 

 

Mayerli Molina  49:42

Yes.

 

Aaron Graham  49:42

Still, but most of the sisters, sisters and brothers are in... 

 

Mayerli Molina  49:47

Maryland. Yes. And then his youngest brother? He lived in Virginia for a while. And he lived in Maryland for a while. He's kind of like the rebellious one of the family. So he kind of liked me moves around a lot. I don't think he, he doesn't really know what he wants to do with life. I think he's gonna move to Puerto Rico eventually. They were all like, kind of raised in Puerto Rico. 

 

Aaron Graham  50:10

Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  50:10

Yes.

 

Aaron Graham  50:12

So they have that heritage, but then it's weird because they have like, United States, Puerto Rico, United States, like so it's sort of a bunch of different cultures? 

 

Mayerli Molina  50:21

Yeah. Dominican Republic. Guatemala. Yeah. Different, a lot of different cultures. And he's a mess, my dad. But, um, that's funny, because I think the four of them, the four, the older ones, they were born in the US, like, I think one of them was in Miami, the other one in DC, Maryland. But the youngest one, my grandmother, when she was pregnant, they were actually living in Dominican Republic at the time. But she knew that she wanted her youngest son to be a US citizen, because all the rest of them are. And if she had him in Dominican Republic, you know, he wouldn't be a citizen. 

 

Aaron Graham  50:56

Right. 

 

Mayerli Molina  50:56

So she ended up going across to Puerto Rico to have him and have him be a citizen, which I think is kind of funny. Yeah, so she, like she lived in Puerto Rico for a while. And then yeah, all of them ended up making their way over here. Yes. 

 

Aaron Graham  51:16

Do you think? Let's see how to phrase this, then your dad's side of the family? Do any of them, Do any of them seem more? More sort of American or Puerto Rican? Or do you really, are do you draw a distinction between the two? I mean, is there is there a distinction to be made? Between the two? 

 

Mayerli Molina  51:40

There is a distinction. I associate being American with acting a certain type of way and like, leaving a sort of? Well, I guess? Yeah, well, most of them, I think most of them are, like fully, like Puerto Rican, they are Hispanic, Latino, Latina. You know, none of them are very, like American washed. But my aunt, the second one, the second oldest, she married an American guy, while the other ones they married, they all married Latino, Latina, Puerto Rican people. But she married an American guy, and they sort of have a different lifestyle than us. You know, they're kind of like, different, reserved part of that family. You know, they don't, because he, we all are a family. And we all like, stay at each other's houses. And we all interact, you know, and he doesn't speak Spanish. And we all speak Spanish. Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  52:31

So when you say American guy, and you mean sort of like a white kind of more white? 

 

Mayerli Molina  52:36

Yes, uh. Is he African American? 

 

Aaron Graham  52:41

Have a different culture? 

 

Mayerli Molina  52:42

Yeah, he's, you know, he's part of the American culture. So he doesn't like staying at our houses, you know, he doesn't. He's on his phone, you know, in a corner, you know, nothing wrong with that. It's just, you know, he doesn't really want to get involved in our things. 

 

Aaron Graham  52:58

Right. Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  52:59

So he kind of like, and since you know, Hispanic culture, he's the head of the house, their families kind of separate from the rest of us, too. 

 

Aaron Graham  53:10

Gotcha. 

 

Mayerli Molina  53:11

We still see them from time to time. But you know, there's always been that line, and she changed her, my aunt changed her last name to his name. So they always were Molinas. And they were always like, Oh, we're Turner's, you know what it's like, Oh, okay.

 

Aaron Graham  53:25

But even like, with like, in Latin, and where you share both the both last names, too. But then like, and then having sort of that American, where more of the tradition is just to have, like one last name? Um, well, I mean, there's sometimes your unions were, I don't know, I guess it's becoming more popular to share last names, even if you're not from a Latino/Latina culture.

 

Mayerli Molina  53:50

Yeah. I mean, technically, my name is Molina Merced, which is my mom's last name, but she didn't change her name. But we've always just gone by Molina and she's, I mean, because the man this this the man's last name. Yeah, I've never really considered myself a Merced. 

 

Aaron Graham  54:05

Gotcha. But you still carry that? 

 

Mayerli Molina  54:07

Yes. Technically legally. 

 

Aaron Graham  54:09

Right, legally. Oh. And then I guess, yeah, we've we've still, I'm looking at these questions. And I we've covered some of these, like your experience with the Latino community. And you've talked about the club, and you talked about growing up, and you think, do you think that there's that much of an inside outside Latino community that's in Richmond? And do you feel like you're like you're insular in one part, and, you... 

 

Mayerli Molina  54:48

No, I always considered myself in high school. I used to call myself a drifter. Because I didn't, I didn't really have a group. You know, I'd like to talk to everybody. I like interacting with everybody. And like with the American white people, I always felt like I wasn't fully there, you know, with them. And then with like, Hispanic Latino people, I also felt like I wasn't fully there, because it's kind of hard for, like Puerto Rican, because like, you're like American, but you're also not. So it's like those people who are like, fully invested in that, and they identify as that fully like, like Mexican, you know, they have their own culture and their own style, their own way of living, you know, and they can fully identify and emerging in that, immerse in that. Well, us, is like, especially like, because we're also religious, too, you know, so that kind of separates us from a lot of different people.

 

Aaron Graham  55:41

You think maybe the not, that, since you're not Catholic? And there's like most of it? Yeah. Do you think that that sort of makes a difference?

 

Mayerli Molina  55:50

Yeah, most of them are Catholic, most Hispanic, Latino people are Catholic. And that does make a difference. Because I think that also is a way of living too, you know, like, the stereotypical Catholic people with like, the, you know, the gold chains and the Virgin Mary. It's sort of an aesthetic. Now. We don't fit into that, either. But also, you have, like, beliefs and morals that don't really, what's the word, kind of go that you don't really associate with other people too, like, even like, a lot of American people don't understand my beliefs, you know, and that's what you're still considered weird to them. It doesn't even really have to do with just Latinos that don't accept our beliefs, either.

 

Aaron Graham  56:39

You feel like there is, this is an odd, this is actually just something that I'm thinking about this isn't on the list? Do you think that there is an American culture? Or do you think that there's, like, that there is like this majority of like, like, is there a white American culture that's dominant over all cultures? Or is it more of kind of? Have you feel like culture in America is more of a mix now?

 

Mayerli Molina  57:08

Um, I think it is more of a mix. But stereotypically speaking, like when you think of like the American culture, there is that picture that you have in your head, like, the American culture will be like white people, and their nice suburban area, and you know, they play soccer and like, do like sports and extracurricular activities. 

 

Aaron Graham  57:30

Is that the American dream? The house in the suburbs.

 

Mayerli Molina  57:35

Yeah, exactly. That's like, that's like American culture to me.

 

Aaron Graham  57:40

I hate but it's funny that you talked about golf. And that seems like the most sort of, me personally, it seems elitist. 

 

Mayerli Molina  57:47

Yeah, that's, that's a part of the culture too, the American culture. 

 

Aaron Graham  57:52

My dad. And my dad played a little bit, but then he didn't, but he didn't have a country club. A little bit more. 

 

Mayerli Molina  58:00

Exactly. 

 

Aaron Graham  58:00

Weird too, idiosyncratic somewhat, but,

 

Mayerli Molina  58:04

Yeah, country clubs too. Oh, that's like that's like the epitome of American culture to me, like working at a country club, like seeing those people come in. And it's like, wow. 

 

Aaron Graham  58:13

So yeah, since you work at a country club, and then you were, and then you saw the country club culture in Jacksonville. Right? 

 

Mayerli Molina  58:20

Yeah. That's, that's what I associate with American culture.

 

Aaron Graham  58:25

Well, that's the that's yeah, well, I'm sorry. 

 

Mayerli Molina  58:30

See, and it had like a negative connotation with it. 

 

Aaron Graham  58:34

Okay, I'm going to be neutral. Well, okay, we've already established, kind of, with your family. You actually, did we talk about? We talked about your job off mic? Or did we talk about your job? Cooking?

 

Mayerli Molina  58:54

I think we did some? I think we did most of it off mic.

 

Aaron Graham  58:57

I would I do want to get on. And I hate that this is redundant. But just to when you were talking to me about how many classes you're taking, and how much, how many hours you're working? 

 

Mayerli Molina  59:09

Yes, I'm currently taking six classes. It's just to finish this. I usually take five classes per semester. But I had one extra class that I needed to take before graduating. So I'm taking six classes this semester, and I have run a full time student and full time job. I work like 35 hours a week. So yeah, it's a lot. 

 

Aaron Graham  59:33

And I'm feeling guilty now that I'm obviously, you're taking away your free time.

 

Mayerli Molina  59:36

No, you're fine. Don't worry about me. 

 

Aaron Graham  59:38

I'm enjoying this. 

 

Mayerli Molina  59:39

I finished most of my work early. So technically, I'm on spring break.

 

Aaron Graham  59:42

Okay, well good, that's right. We have spring break coming up. 

 

Mayerli Molina  59:45

Yes.

 

Aaron Graham  59:51

All right. I think we've covered that. What kind of resources have you found here to help you with your life, and like, have you been? Have you benefited from the help of any organizations or individuals? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:00:07

Well, I think the school, well, here? Where?

 

Aaron Graham  1:00:13

Let's say Richmond, we could talk about, we could talk about any aspect of that. Richmond or Reynolds Community College?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:00:19

I think there's a lot of resources in general, like Reynolds and Richmond, that people provide to help and accommodate certain groups of people. But I think many don't take advantage of them. Like I say, like Reynolds offers, therapy help, like free therapy sessions. And, you know, we know that it's there, but nobody really uses it. I've never used it. Yeah, nobody really uses it, but they continue to share that information with us. And it's like, okay, well, we know it's there, but. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:00:53

I want to do a follow up on that, actually, comment. Do you feel like therapy? That there's a stigma in the Latin community? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:00:59

Oh, yes, there is a stigma. Oh, my gosh, like, my, my parents, they make fun of that stuff. Sadly, you know, I, I don't know. It's hard to talk about nowadays. Because you know, mental health is like a big thing. But in my family, and I believe most of this culture, this community, they think it's all made up. You know, if you're sad, then just be happy.

Aaron Graham  1:01:27

Do you think sometimes like church is like substituted for therapy?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:01:32

Yeah, definitely. Like, they're like, Oh, why do you need therapy? Just talk to God. Like, pray, you know, like, read your Bible. You know, if you need therapy, and there's something wrong with you, and you're having like, negative thoughts, and you're demon possessed. Yeah, you have like demonic spirits, you know that you need to like, what's the English word? Now? You need to like, get rid of, you know, the rebuke that? 

 

Aaron Graham  1:01:54

Oh, yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:01:55

Rebuke the spirits and you need to ask for prayer. Like, and they make fun of therapy. They make fun of mental health stuff. Like I used to be involved. I had a boyfriend in high school, and he went, had like, mental health problems that he was depressed. And, you know, they wouldn't take that seriously. They think that he was, I mean, even I like sometimes, I will admit, because you know, if you'd been raised in that culture, like, I think he would be very dramatic about it. Like if you're, if you're sad, just be happy. You know, it's all a mind game, you can control how you feel and how you view things. But yeah, it's, uh, I'll keep the more vulgar stuff that they said about it to myself. But, yeah, it's a definitely. They don't take that stuff seriously.

 

Aaron Graham  1:02:43

I know that, yeah, that we just kind of took like a tangent away from the resources available to, but I just, I'm sorry, I like, I wanted to touch on that, like, as you brought it up. Any other sort of resources do you feel like helped you out in  Reynolds? Or Richmond? Or public schools here? Or? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:03:04

Yeah, I think there's a lot of, again, there's a lot of resources available, it's just that we don't take advantage of them. I've seen, like scholarships for Hispanic Latino people available, and you know, different categories within that category, that group of people, like, you know, Hispanics, from the Caribbean, or Latinos from this area, or Latinos that are single moms, and this, this and that. And then, like when looking into restaurant information, like there's groups and organizations, from Latino culture, that help other aspiring business owners from that culture, also, which I think is great. And it's like, we're all human, but we're all different. There's different groups of humans, you know, so I think being able to qualify for those certain groups. Because it narrows it down. You know, you don't have to be competing with other people from different nationalities, you know, that you're going to qualify for these specific things. Am I making sense? Feel like I'm rambling.

 

Aaron Graham  1:04:11

That's part of that's part of the fun of this.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:04:14

Yeah, I think it's, it's good to narrow it down. And you know, you are able to apply for these things and you know, you actually have a chance in receiving the help that you may need.

 

Aaron Graham  1:04:27

Have you used any of, like, to get scholarships? Or any?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:04:30

Yeah, definitely. And even like my dad being in the military, before, like, I applied for, like veterans scholarships with him. And scholarships, yeah, that pertain to a certain group of people also. And it's also like, this, being Latino/Latina. Coming from this culture allows you like a sob story to use, for applying for scholarships like, Oh, What's the hardest thing you have to do? Like, oh, come into this country and starting over? Using that, I think is a good advantage that we have. Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:05:16

All right. Thank you so much for sticking with this, this interview. This is a lot. How about your current job? I mean, so we talked a little bit about your, your current job being. Was there another restaurant job that you had leading up to being, like, cold prep?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:05:45

No. Yeah, no, this is my first job ever. I started right out of high school. I actually was interviewed when I was like, 17. And I got the job. I just turned 18 When I started the job. But I got this job from my friend who worked there. She's from Bangladesh. And her mom had worked here for like, eight years, too. And they were both like servers, and I told him that I was looking for a job and they were like, oh, you should work here. And you know, I didn't really consider it. That job beforehand. Like I knew, she told me that she worked at a she told me she's worked at a club. And I was assuming like, like, a rave club. Yeah, like a disco. So I didn't really know what she meant, you know, but then she told me like, no, like, I work like on a country club. And I was like, oh, okay, like I can. Yeah, and I wasn't really pushing for it. Honestly, it was her mom that was pushing, you know, for me to get this job. Like she set up an interview with the head chef and everything. And I was like, Okay, well, I guess I just sort of landed there. I wasn't really trying to. I didn't have any other job prospects either. Just, yeah, I just sort of landed there. And.

 

Aaron Graham  1:05:51

What was your first position?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:06:56

I was in snack bar. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:06:57

Okay, 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:06:58

Yeah, they have a pool at the club and they have a snack bar where they like sort of like burgers and like, you know, sort of like fast food. I worked the line, like hotline, making burgers and stuff and french fries and stuff like that. Yeah, um, and then, after the summer, when the pool closed, they moved me up to the kitchen. I originally wanted to be in the kitchen. Because I didn't have any experience. I had no experience doing anything whatsoever. But I since I want to open a restaurant I've always been invested in culinary and all things kitchen. So I grew up instead of watching Disney Channel, I watched the Food Network.

 

Aaron Graham  1:07:34

So when? When did the food, like, food restaurant obsession start? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:07:39

Oh.

 

Aaron Graham  1:07:39

What age? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:07:40

Like my entire life. I think the Princess and the Frog? Do you know the movie?  Yeah. I think after watching the Princess and the Frog, that's when it all clicked. I'm like, Yes, I want to open a restaurant. That's what I want to do. And then like Ratatouille too. And those are like my most inspiring movies. When I was younger. I had a Princess and the Frog theme birthday, actually. I really wanted to open a restaurant after that. And I began watching the Food Network like crazy and binging like tasty videos. And then in high school, they did, like, a dual enrollment Tech Center program. So junior year of high school, I took culinary classes. And when I joined the culinary classes, I realized that I already knew most of the stuff that he was teaching me, you know, like the dices and the cuts of food. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:07:45

Yeah.  Who taught you that? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:08:30

The Food Network.

 

Aaron Graham  1:08:33

Anyone in your family? Or mostly from the TV?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:08:36

It was the TV. They taught me like all the professional stuff,  like mis en place and mirepoix. You know, all the French terminology. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:08:45

Your mother sauces? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:08:46

Yeah, exactly like the bechamel and the red sauce. Yes, I learned most of that stuff through television and YouTube videos. And I would always like, I didn't realize that I was absorbing all that information until I actually went into the class. And I was like, wait, I know exactly what he's talking about. So I couldn't finish that course. Sadly, my senior year because I did band also.

 

Aaron Graham  1:09:13

What instrument?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:09:14

Saxophone. alto sax. Yes. I was in I was invested in all things band. I did marching band, Wind Ensemble, jazz band, pit orchestra. Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:09:24

We didn't even, wait. I'm just now, I'm opening up a different thing. Open up music. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:09:29

Yes. Music is a big thing. Oh, no. I don't know which thought to finish.

 

Aaron Graham  1:09:34

Alright, so which way do we go? Do we go food? Do we go music? We talked, okay. We talked about food. We talked about jobs and like stuff that you're interested in. Let's talk about music. Okay, so when did, when did music start?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:09:48

Middle school. My sister is three years older than me. So when she got to middle school, she wanted to do band and she picked the flute as her instrument. And so, my dad, when my sister, my sister is three years older than me, like I said, my dad, knowing this, he was always been into music. Music has always been a passion of his. He knows how to play guitar and piano, those were his main instruments. And he learned by himself, he didn't have any, any teacher, and using like an old guitar and an old piano, you know, when he was in Puerto Rico, and that's how he taught himself. So he knew that he wanted to, he wanted to learn more, but he never had the time. So he pawned an alto saxophone for like, $200. And he had it sitting in the back of his closet. So when my sister chose the flute, and then when it was my turn, to join, I knew I wanted to join band. I don't know why. Well, because I think they'd like pressured me into joining bands.

 

Aaron Graham  1:10:40

Do you feel like they, that there's a little bit of, like, in the family, like, every, like, if people were into music, and your father was into music that, hey, if I learned an instrument, too. Then I have something that I can talk to my father about. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:10:54

Yeah. Yeah, possibly, um, but also, I think the other things, the other activities that they were providing, like chorus, or like art. I don't know if it's like a cultural thing. But my family didn't take seriously like, if you were in chorus, you were like a cheerleader. And my mom was like, oh, no, don't be a cheerleader. Like, why you want to be a cheerleader and shake your butt all day? That's, yeah, that's, yeah, that's, that's how they associate it with. Yeah. They were like, oh, no, if you're a cheerleader, you're in chorus. And you're in chorus, you're a cheerleader. Like, that's sort of like the that's what they thought that this was the perspective that they thought, well, they thought that music, like band actually, like taught you something, you know, like diligence? Is that the word? Like?

 

Aaron Graham  1:11:43

I think it's sort of, like, learning technique. Like, learning?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:11:51

It's like a different language. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:11:53

Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:11:54

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:11:54

It's also doing something out of habit. Like you have to do it. It's a routine. You got to do it a couple times a week, or you're never going to get up to the next level. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:12:05

Yeah, exactly, like it. It teaches you a lot of things, a lot of, like, valuable skills and is an instrument, you know, something that you could possibly hold on to for the rest of your life. So yeah, when I got into middle school, my dad forced me to play the alto saxophone that he had sitting in the back of his closet. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:12:11

You say he forced you?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:12:22

He forced me to.

 

Aaron Graham  1:12:24

What did you want to play? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:12:25

I wanted to play the baritone. It's like a mini tuba. Because I liked the sound. I liked the tone of it. Like it sounded like we're rich and...

 

Aaron Graham  1:12:27

Okay.  Earthy. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:12:35

Yeah. But he was like, No, I had the saxophone. I've had it for like, four years now. You're gonna play it. And he bought me, like, a rolly backpack, you know, a backpack with wheels. So I could put the saxophone on it and like roll to my classes. It was embarrassing. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:12:55

Now just random music questions, but is the fingering the same for a baritone and an alto?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:13:00

No, they're different. They're completely different. A baritone is a brass instrument. And there's no mouthpiece. I mean, it's a mouthpiece. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:13:08

Not a reed. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:13:08

There's no reed.

 

Aaron Graham  1:13:09

It's, it's brass. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:13:12

Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:13:13

So it's getting into that trumpet/tuba...

 

Mayerli Molina  1:13:15

Exactly. Well, saxophone has a reed. It's a woodwind instrument. And it's a different embouchure mouth technique that you need to play.

 

Aaron Graham  1:13:24

My brother. And my brother played brass instruments, but I also play guitar and drums and yeah, started when I was young.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:13:33

Yeah, yeah. Yes, saxophone. So I started the sax. And at first, it was like an obligation because I didn't wanna play sax. But I just took it, I took it. And I ended up falling in love with it. Like, it was, like, I became really passionate about it. I ended up joining the jazz band The next year, and it was like an audition thing. And you have to like, practice and I was the only seventh grade girl. Like there's like three girls in that band. Jazz Band, there was male dominated heavily. And I was the only seventh grade girl alto sax, while the three other ones were eighth grade, you know, about to go to high school. Like, I looked up to them a lot. And they were, yeah, it and after that, like I just took a band for the rest of my public school education.

 

Aaron Graham  1:14:22

That's cool. Ever think about doing anything about that, like, in college, like going back into music? Or learning music theory?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:14:30

I thought, ah, music theory. I don't like music theory. It's so complicated. But yeah, I've always, I've wanted to, I've seen like my other peers and classmates at their universities and they have like marching bands and stuff. And I love marching band, but VCU doesn't have a marching band. They have like a pep band for like basketball games. And I thought about it but then I saw like some more like music class type of things, like orchestras and I love how the saxophone sounds in orchestra. Well, I love it as a whole too, like jazz man too. But like an orchestra where you get to, like, adjust the tone and like, the filling the space with the sound is. I really liked that too. So I wanted to, but I don't know how my schedule is gonna work out. I feel like I'm gonna have a lot on my plate already.

 

Aaron Graham  1:15:20

Sometimes you got to pick and choose, you know, there's only so much to do. But, 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:15:24

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:15:24

But it's also nice to have, you know, a lot of things that you can, you know, that interest you.  Yeah, that's cool. I'm glad you, thank you for bringing it up music because I think I almost missed that. And that's something that's very important in my life. All right. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:15:47

Oh, I sing at church too. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:15:48

Oh, you do? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:15:49

Yes. That's like a, that's like a, I don't know. We sing a lot in my family. Like, that's a cultural thing, too. Like they have like, hymns, but they're in Spanish. And it's like, yeah, we sing those a lot. When we get together as a family. My grandma, my dad's mom. She loves to sing. And she always, she plays the harmonica, too. She's very passionate about the harmonica. Oh, she loves singing, playing Happy Birthday to us on the harmonica. It's like, well, I've heard this 19 times already. She loves to steal the show. She loves singing. And so, we're kind of raised in that culture too, where every time we'd get together, like his sisters, my dad's sisters, and my grandma and my dad would play guitar. And we'd all like singing these hymns over and over and over again. And they like they're kind of like hymns, like. They're not like the traditional, like American hymns. They're living. They got like groove. They're like Pentecostal hymns. They're bouncy, and they're exciting. There's clapping, and there's playing of like bongos and congos, and stuff like that somebody's banging on something. Yes, and then like, I grew up listening to them. And I think my ears sort of adjusted to them to where as I got older, they've always like been able to harmonize and like, you know, do like second harmonies and third harmonies and stuff like that. And so I grew up listening to that, too. And my ear has been able to adjust that. And I've been learning how to harmonize too with them. And everybody's like, Oh, it's I love it so much. It's just.

 

Aaron Graham  1:16:51

Something about voices when they hit that harmony. It's almost like this nice little pocket where you're like...

 

Mayerli Molina  1:17:25

Yeah, yeah, it just, it's so satisfying. Um, yeah. So we sing. We sing at church, like every Saturday. We're like the worship team. And since my ear has developed too, is that how you say? That's how you say in Spanish. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:17:41

Your ear? When your talking about music, your ear for, I think, yeah. When you say your ear, like how you hear a pitch. Like, if you're flat or you're sharp... Your ear gets better. And you're like, I can hit that note. Thinking about it. I'm like, yeah.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:17:50

Yeah.  Yeah, since, since that was the big thing. I think, me and my family, like me and my dad are the ones that like, like to sing him do music the most. Well, my sister, my mom, sort of like, we're kind of on the outside. I mean, they like to do it, but they're not as passionate about it, like me and my dad. So I've sort of developed that ear more, and I'm considered the worship leader. Because I'm able to get in the right key.

 

Aaron Graham  1:18:23

If you say, like, you stop playing saxophone as much, but you're still singing, so you're still doing music. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:18:30

Yeah, I play a saxophone sometimes. But it's just since I'm the one that's able to get in the right key. My dad like, doesn't like me to play that much. Because my mom and my sister. They, they sing but not in the right key. So they need me to sing with them. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:18:46

Yeah.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:18:46

Yeah. But with a sax, I still play sometimes. And with that ear, too, I'm able to like, like, not sight read, but like, just play off the bat without needing like sheet music or anything. Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:19:01

Yeah, cause sometimes you could put on music and you can sort of reach up to the, like, I can hear the tones up here so reach up to it. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:19:09

Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:19:21

How about COVID? How did you? What? When you were starting? When did COVID hit and like, what part of your life kind of during school?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:19:33

Yeah, um, COVID hit my it was like second semester of sophomore year of high school. I was 15. 15. I think I'm, I'm sort of like my birthday sort of late in the year where I'm when I was in school. Like my birthday is like, sort of towards the end of the year. It is at the end of the year, while everybody else is like sort of like the beginning. So I'm like late bloomer. But yeah, I was like 15. It was March of my sophomore year, everybody thought that we were like, like two weeks off like yeah, and then we never came back to school. I was kind of sad to be honest. I love school. I've always enjoyed school. School is always like when it was like a hobby, you know, like you have it was an order that you had. And after, after I graduated, it was kind of hard for me because it's like, you're in that system for so long. Like you have an order. You know, you wake up, you go to school, you go home, you do homework, and you repeat, like for 12 years, you know, of your life. So yeah, when, when the news came out that we weren't coming back to school, I didn't really know what to do. I've never done "not" school before. You know, I've always just done school like school was just, that was my job. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:20:45

Right? Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:20:45

So yeah, I think I like I cried when I saw the news. And I was talking to my friends about and they're like, why are you sad? Like, we're not going to school anymore. Like, what's wrong with you? I'm like, no, like, I'm not gonna see my friends. I'm not gonna do band. I'm not gonna do anything. So yeah. Sophomore year. It was the end of sophomore year and junior year. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:21:10

I want to get the narrative right. You're already back. So Jacksonville was ninth grade. So you came back for your sophomore year? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:21:17

Yes. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:21:18

To Richmond, and then COVID hits?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:21:20

Yes. I just gotten back to Virginia, and like that summer, before sophomore year. And so I just started getting back into the groove of things, you know, with my friends that I haven't seen in, like two years because I was in Florida. And this high school that I haven't been in before. So getting used to everything and the order everything. Yeah. And then COVID shut everything down.

 

Aaron Graham  1:21:45

How did your? Well, let's before we go to your family. How about your sister? Was your sister at Reynolds already at this point?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:21:55

No. Since we moved, she was considered out of state still. Yeah. So she had to take a year off, like a gap year. And just work and focus. She focused on working. She started at Publix when she got back. And she worked there for a while. So she, cause out of state tuition is way more expensive than, then in state and the FAFSA. didn't cover as much as she thought so she had to take a gap year. And then, yeah, she was working. I think she had like different jobs that year. She started at Publix, and then some like issues happened at that job. So she ended up leaving after like a month. And then she did Chick fil A. And then she didn't like that either. So then she left Chick fil A and then...

 

Aaron Graham  1:22:43

Do you want to expand on, you said that issues has happened?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:22:47

Yeah. There was a man who was giving off bad vibes. Yes, I think he like was like,

 

Aaron Graham  1:23:01

Coworker? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:23:01

Yeah. coworker, like sort of like sexual harassment tendencies. Yeah, and I don't remember exactly the details of what happened because there was so much going on at this time. But you know, he was sort of harassing her at her job, and she didn't feel comfortable or safe there anymore. And she told the management like, Hey, I don't want to work here anymore. And they said, like, hey, like, we can transfer him, you know, to another job. But she said that, like, no, he knows that I work here. Now he knows my schedule. So she just left the job. So is this pre or post COVID? I think was pre COVID. Yes. So yes. And during COVID, I think she, before COVID, she had like a, there's like a third job, she worked at a retirement home. So she was a waitress there too. And then during, when COVID happened, she still worked there. But everything was different. You know, you have to wear masks, and they were started, instead of the dining hall where the people young people would come and eat, they have to start taking the food to their residents, their homes and everything. And that was that took a big toll on her like you had to go rain or shine. And the management, she said that they didn't do anything. They just watch them, you know, as they push carts of food to each house, each person individually, and they also they're elderly people. So they have like, diet restrictions too. So it was just it was a lot for her. So she ended up leaving that job too. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:24:25

That's stressful. I also know too, like I remember when COVID hit that retirement centers were the ones that were hit really hard. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:24:35

Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:24:35

Since they're already kind of at risk. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:24:37

Yeah. It wasn't easy. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:24:39

Yeah. How about your family? Like how did they deal with COVID? Were they still able to work?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:24:46

Well, my dad's a truck driver. So it's already pretty secluded, you know, it's just him by himself in his truck. So he was able to continue working and my mom, you know, she's kind of needed at the schools. She worked in the school cafeteria at that time too. But it was sort of different, you know, social distancing. And it was like, pick up lunches. It wasn't like people,

 

Aaron Graham  1:25:09

Right? There's still but they're still had the cafeteria open. Even thought the schools are shut down.  Cause they had kids that still-

 

Mayerli Molina  1:25:14

Yeah. Needed lunch. Yes. So she would, it was same deal making the lunches and everything social dancing, masks everything. But they would set up tables of bag lunches around lunchtime, and parents would come by in their cars. And, you know, they put the food in their trunk or something like that. And that's how she spent COVID. So it was really, like my junior year. I spent by myself in my house doing online classes, because my sister was still working. My dad was still working. And my mom was still working. So it was just me isolated, all by myself for like, eight hours a day, every day, for a year. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:25:56

Wow. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:25:56

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:25:57

So like, the first time like, you kind of had sort of the rule of like, nobody's around and you're sort of expected sort of to go to school. No one's really checking?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:26:07

Yeah, it was like that. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:26:09

How did you like online? Did you do online classes?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:26:12

I did. I did online classes, you know, as I think.

 

Aaron Graham  1:26:16

And how were your teachers? And how? And how are you?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:26:22

I think everything, everybody was just trying to adjust, you know, trying to do the best they can do. I mean, most of the students clocked out most the time, you know, you just set up your camera. Not even your camera. You didn't have to turn your camera on most of the the times. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So that's how I spent most of my days, pajamas, in my bed with the thing on, sort of listening. You know, but then like, when it came down to assignments, you know, I would do the work. And that's, man that was so unhealthy. I didn't go outside at all. I just spend my days like that. And then sometimes, like, I'd set up my classes, and I'd bake a cake or something. Like during school.

 

Aaron Graham  1:26:38

You didn't have to turn your camera on? So you can be like, dark, muted.  I was gonna ask you about that too, since your parents weren't around, like, how did you like it? But you're already into the food network and cooking? So did you were you cool with like, I'm just gonna cook my lunch and I'm good. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:27:21

Yep. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:27:22

I know how to do this.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:27:22

That's what I did. I just, you know, I just made my food. And then sometimes, like, I get really bored. And then I'd literally like bake a cake or something or like, make cookies or something. I did a lot of baking at that time. A lot of experimenting with recipes and stuff. I kind of miss it. Because I feel like I don't have time to do that anymore. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:27:41

Yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:27:42

You know, work and school and everything. But yeah, that's my past time. And like, at that time, like I was able to, I had like a friend who was going through the same thing. And he and I like talked every single day. Oh my gosh, we did like, classes together. And so it was like, I think that relationship like, kept me sane. Like we were just able to talk to each other and have that interaction.

 

Aaron Graham  1:27:57

Did you interact with, like, not to incriminate yourself, but did you break the rule? Did you go over to any friends houses just to interact with them? Or are you trying to, try to? You know? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:28:19

No. Because Um, oh, okay. So sophomore, the summer before junior year. We ended up buying a house before COVID. Before no, wait, it was after COVID. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:28:32

Pre COVID? So coming back to Virginia.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:28:34

It was after COVID. Like during COVID kind of when everything shut down. When school is like closed for like two weeks. Technically. We were looking at houses to buy in that,

 

Aaron Graham  1:28:49

You had already started the process. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:28:51

Yes. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:28:52

Okay. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:28:52

Yeah. So we had a realtor and everything and we're looking at houses and that summer, the summer before junior year, we ended up moving to a house in the Glen Allen area. Still Henrico but unfamiliar. We weren't, we didn't grow up there. You know, we didn't have many friends there. It technically wasn't zoned for the Freeman, the school that I went to for the the high school but since it was COVID, You know, I'm not going to be going there anyways, so I just did it online. But I wasn't around any of my friends. And none of us. We didn't have our licenses or anything. So no, I didn't go out to see any of my friends, really.

 

Aaron Graham  1:29:27

Right. Yeah, you're too young. You didn't have, unless you're gonna jump on your bike. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:29:31

Yeah. Yeah. And it was we moved like 15 minutes away, you know, that was considered like far away.

 

Aaron Graham  1:29:37

So yeah, when you grew up, yeah. So your, you know, your, your peer group were in Henrico and you're out in Glen Allen.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:29:46

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:29:47

But like through like any other technologies, like iPhones, FaceTime, like with friends. Was that a way to kind of socialize? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:29:57

Yeah, that's what we did like, like I mentioned before I spent in that entire year talking to my friend, like through FaceTime like, we just set up the camera and like I'd be doing like homework and he'd be doing homework. So we spent the whole year, I think we really helped each other that way, because we didn't talk to anybody. Like he didn't have any friends either. Like, yeah, like our friend group kind of like fell apart after there was a lot of drama, you know, like high school drama. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:30:23

I won't make you go into high school drama. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:30:26

Yeah, I mean, it's unnecessary. I don't remember it to be honest. But I remember like falling off with a lot of my friends. So this one friend that I had, you know, he wasn't really close with anybody either. So we just sort of stuck together. During that time, yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:30:40

Hmm. So getting back, after your, so COVID hits, that year is kind of weird. Well, you have 2020. But then also going back to school in the fall, you guys aren't going back in person. For your junior year?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:30:58

Yeah. Well, technically, I think the second semester, I was doing culinary classes at this time, too. Technically. How do you culinary online? Yeah, so the first half of my junior year, the guy, the teacher guy, he was just like, showing us notes and everything like this is what dices and this is what a julieanne is, and the chiffonade and stuff, but like we weren't practicing or anything. But when things started calming down at the sort of second half of my junior year, we were able to go in person, social distancing masks and everything. And like, sort of make stuff in person. And they were sort of letting kids back into schools, if they want to do they have the option between continuing virtual or going back in person. I decided to continue virtual because, again, I wasn't zoned for my school. So it just be that I didn't know how to drive. So it'd be a hassle. Yeah, exactly. So I just stayed virtual for my, in my homeschool Freeman and I went to culinary classes at Hermitage, which is closer to where I live now. It's like five minutes from where I live. I'm technically zoned for Hermitage. So I did culinary classes there. Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:32:28

When do you think it kinda got back? Your senior year? Do you didn't feel like it? You got back into like a regular thing?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:32:24

Yeah, um, senior year, my senior year, that's when things started actually going back to normal. Since we did I did marching band. We had band camp over the summer. And that's already like social distancing. Because everybody has to like, stand in their specific spot. And that's already like six feet away. So seeing everybody back up like that with their mask on, playing an instrument with a mask on?

 

Aaron Graham  1:32:48

Did you cut like a little mouth hole?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:32:51

We had to cut slits in our masks.

 

Aaron Graham  1:32:54

So, nobody get too close to the saxophone horn. Because it's blowing out germs. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:32:58

I don't know, I'm not a brass instrument. They had their own deal.  Exactly. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:33:05

How about spit valves? That's right. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:33:07

But the the fuzz from the masks would always like get in the way from like the reed and the little valves. Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:33:14

Mask press down on the reed and all of a sudden you don't get the vibration. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:33:18

Yeah, that was different. That was difficult. But yeah, um, summer before senior year, everybody was doing band camp and marching band. And, you know, that was when things started going back to normal. And then we started building and cultivating those relationships, which was kind of hard, you know, because we haven't been socializing with anybody else for like, a year. So we were all like cutting, like butting heads. And we didn't know each other that well. And you know, marching band is about team. It's a team effort. It's a group effort. So that year, we did not win any awards.

 

Aaron Graham  1:33:50

You weren't meshing.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:33:52

We didn't win any awards, we didn't win any competitions or anything. But by the end of it. By the end of senior year, since you know, we all started interacting more and socializing more and, you know, gauging with each other's personalities. We ended up making good friendships. But beginning it was rough. Yeah. And then after the marching band seasons usually ends like, September, November. That's when COVID sort of, like masks policies where, you know, if you wanted to wear masks, you'd wear masks if you didn't, and you didn't. And that's when school sort of became normal.

 

Aaron Graham  1:34:36

And you had a regular, but that's cool, too, because you had a regular graduation. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:34:40

Yeah, that was good.

 

Aaron Graham  1:34:42

Because I talked to some, some of my some of the people that are in this program, I guess they're two years older than you. So they had their senior year was the first, that was that COVID year. So they're like, we had drive, like we were in our cars for graduation. You know? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:34:51

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:34:52

Just drive through the parking lot and get the diploma.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:35:04

Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:35:04

And yeah. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:35:05

Well, yeah, that's good. Yeah, I was, we were lucky enough to have a normal. Well, yeah, we, my family was kind of concerned about that too, because I technically didn't have a Quinceañera. A Quinceañera is like a traditional, it's like a sweet 16. But for Latino, Latin culture, when a young woman, 

 

Aaron Graham  1:35:28

Sweet 15. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:35:28

Sweet 15. When a young woman turns 15, you know, she's considered a woman now. And there's like a whole big deal. My sister had one.

 

Aaron Graham  1:35:33

And it's kind of, you know, and other cultures have it too, like your day like a bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah, too. So, 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:35:42

Yeah. But we were planning mine for a while, but then we ended up moving to Florida, when I was when I turned 15. And we didn't know anybody there. So we said, okay, when you turn 16 We'll throw you a sweet 16. But you know, still make it Quinceañera. Yeah. But then COVID hit? 

 

Aaron Graham  1:36:00

Como se dice? 16? Wait a second. Like catorce, quince, do you say, dieciseis?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:36:07

Dieciseis ceañera. Yeah, um, COVID hit when I turned 16. So I couldn't have a Quinceañera. Dieciseis ceañera. So my parents were like, Oh my gosh, imagine like, you're not gonna have a Quinceañera. And you're not gonna have a graduation or prom or anything. You know, they thought that like COVID was gonna last that long. So I would miss out on everything.

Aaron Graham  1:36:32

I mean, everybody. It was changing week by week. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:36:35

Exactly. So yeah, luckily, I was able to get a prom and get a graduation, a proper graduation and Prom 

 

Aaron Graham  1:36:42

Normal senior year. That's good. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:36:44

Yeah, I lucked out.

 

Aaron Graham  1:36:47

So going back into it, we're almost done too. Thank you for being a trooper. And doing this. I'm having a lot, for the first interview, this is great. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:36:58

Good. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:37:00

Coming into Reynolds, do you feel like you did more stuff online or in person? Now that you had the experience of COVID and online classes, How did you? And what was your experience, like getting into Reynolds? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:37:18

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:37:18

From high school?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:37:19

Well, you know, sort of end of senior year, everybody was getting the college admissions and like talking about where they're gonna go. And, you know, I kind of felt bad. Because I knew that I had to go to community college, because, you know, just, there wasn't any other option for me. Financially speaking, I didn't have that luxury of going out of state or even going in state and you know, going far away and having to pay for dorm rooms or meal plans and stuff like that. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:37:45

No shame in that. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:37:46

Yeah, I know. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:37:47

I think it's awesome. I'm a big proponent of community college. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:37:51

No, no, now that I'm like, here, and I'm almost done. Yeah. This is was the right decision. I'm not in pounds of debt. Like lifelong debt, you know, I'm, I'm happy to be here. And I think is a great opportunity for those, especially if you don't know exactly what you want to do with your life. I think Reynolds is definitely the right move for me. And it's just like, time goes by faster too this way, you know, because you split it up four years into two and two. Yeah, but at that time, you know, I was feeling left on, you know, I'm like, Oh, I'm gonna have to go to community college. But I did an in person class, my first semester here. It was, like, precalculus, or something like that. Because I'm not good at math. And I was like, Okay, if I take it in person, that is going to be easier. And I went in person, and I didn't like it. To be honest, I didn't like it. I was like, oh, because I think I was like, sort of, like, used to the online virtual thing, because I did it for like a year straight. Even after like, senior year, things just, I sort of, like learned how to learn that way. You know, like, on my own. While, like, the in person class, like the teacher was like going, you know, she was teaching the way that she's taught before the way that she learned how to teach, you know, but that's not the way that I wanted her to learn, you know, after a year of learning that way. So I switched back to making all my classes virtual, and I've prioritized getting a job. I mean, working at my job and you know, saving money, trying to save as much money as I can before transferring to VCU in the fall. So that's, that's sort of how I've done it. I've worked out a good schedule. I work in the mornings, from eight to two, and then I do homework and stuff like that in the afternoon, 

 

Aaron Graham  1:39:42

Is there any sort of class that? Are they all asynchronous? Do you have to? So you don't have like a lecture that you'd have to be at? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:39:48

Yeah, they're all just a Canvas course asynchronous I do when I, when I have the time to do it.

 

Aaron Graham  1:39:55

Yeah, that's awesome. Let's see where we're at. I think we're almost done. Again, thank you again, for doing this. Oh, yeah. Looking at the pandemic. Do you feel like it impacted the Latino community? Are you? How do you think it impacted the Latino community? More so? Less so? Or did you notice anything? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:40:23

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of a interesting question. When I, when I think about the Latino community, I can, I can see how it would impact the Latino community more because just family dynamics as a whole are different than the typical American family. Like, I think American families sort of go their separate ways. You know, they don't, they're not expected to spend that much time together, like, kids can go spend time with their room, or like, you know, on video games, and, you know, mom and dad will be doing whatever they do, while Latino families, like if you're in the house, you're spending time with family, like you, you don't go, like, why are you in your room? Like, what are you doing all by yourself?

 

Aaron Graham  1:41:01

Do you feel like you're like,  is your family? Like, if you're like, on their, on your phone?  They're like, get off your phone.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:41:07

Yeah, they're like, Oh, you're addicted. Get off the phone like, what's your screen time? So yeah, that was hard interacting with my parents all day, every day, every single day, you know, because no, we can't leave, we're all bored out of our minds, and we're all gonna get on each other's nerves. So that was the, the family dynamic, must have been hard. And then like, not being able to see your relatives that, you know, aren't your nuclear family, but you're so used to seeing them like, a couple of times a year and not being able to spend that time with them and missing out on, like, birthdays, and just a family get togethers was hard too. You know, you you grew up with this people and not seeing them for, like, months on end was pretty difficult.

 

Aaron Graham  1:41:52

I mean, like, yeah, like, nearby family in Maryland, did you guys see each other? And how are they impacted? With COVID? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:42:00

Yeah, they, my family, really, they didn't take it that seriously. But my grandmother, you know, since she was older, on the older end, you know, she was more concerned for her health. So she social distance and you know, wore her mask, and she made sure to take the necessary precautions. So and since she lives with my aunt, the one that we spend the most time with, you know, we didn't get to see them that much. Yeah, and the other family members, we don't interact with them that much. But it's my aunt and my grandmother who live together, who we see more.

 

Aaron Graham  1:42:36

Do you get? Did your family get vaccinated? Or if you want to talk about it or not? Or, um, I know that can be charged.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:42:49

We did not.

 

Aaron Graham  1:42:50

Why and why do you think you didn't get vaccinated? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:42:55

Um, just because 

 

Aaron Graham  1:42:56

Did you hear something weird? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:42:57

Yeah, they had, there was a lot of, I mean, they cultivated this vaccine out of nowhere from a disease that came out of nowhere, you know, so we didn't know what was in it. And there was no trial or like test runs of anything. And we don't know the effects, the negative effects that could happen in the future. So yeah, none of us. We all chose not to get vaccinated. I believe my grandmother did get vaccinated though. But yeah, it's just like a safety precaution.

 

Aaron Graham  1:43:25

Yeah. All right, we made it to the final section. Do you feel like you belong in Richmond? And then, is there anything that prevents you from feeling, like, that you belong?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:43:41

I do feel like I belong. I think Richmond is my home, like Virginia is my home after spending those two years in Florida. I can definitely. This is really our home, I mean, we've created a family out of where we've landed, where we leave, like God put us you know, because out of everywhere, you know, we ended up here, like it's just, we couldn't find it anywhere else. But we ended up here and it's just a diverse community. And we've never felt like out of place or like left out of anywhere. And you know, the congregation that we attend to is like our family. Yeah, we've we've created a home out of Richmond, and this is, this is where I plan to stay too.

 

Aaron Graham  1:44:21

Do you feel like you'll ever go back to Jacksonville?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:44:24

To visit. That's like a vacation Not. Not. Not permanently.

 

Aaron Graham  1:44:29

Have any homies that still are there?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:44:31

I do. I did. I met this Venezuelan girl like a part of our little Latino group. And she became like, my best friend and we still have contact. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:44:41

That's cool. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:44:41

Yeah. Yeah.

 

Aaron Graham  1:44:44

I mean, sometimes you, you think like, like social media, having that throughout school that gets you to reconnect with old friends? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:44:55

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:44:59

And have you ever, have you ever omitted parts of your cultural identity to try to fit in with other, you know, within the culture of the United States? Or?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:45:12

I think sometimes, like when I was trying to like find my place in schools, like if I was trying to, you know, fit in with the American people, I would leave certain parts out of my culture. Like, sort of stuff that I do or like the food that I'd eat, but generally now, I was always pretty proud of who I am and prepared to embrace it. And if I didn't fit in somewhere, then I wouldn't really try and force myself to fit in like a sphere and a square peg. Is that the saying? Circle in a square peg. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:45:41

Right. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:45:42

Yeah. But yeah, if I, if I didn't fit in, then I wouldn't force myself to fit in.

 

Aaron Graham  1:45:46

Do you think? How do you think immigration is talked about by politicians in the general public? What's your opinion of it? 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:46:01

Of immigration? Well, I think there's positive and negative sides to everything. I don't really, I don't really know that much about immigration, because I'm, I didn't go through that process. Yeah, I, I can't speak much about it. Considering I'm not fully, I don't have much knowledge on it. But, 

 

Aaron Graham  1:46:15

Immigration. I guess like, because you're still technically an immigrant. But then it happens. So when you're so young, but still being in kind of a culture like, like your family coming in from. And it's another weird thing, too, because Puerto Rico is part of the United States. 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:46:42

Yeah. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:46:43

So it's not really immigrants. Yeah. It's just moving to the United States.

 

Mayerli Molina   1:46:47

It doesn't really apply to me.

 

Aaron Graham  1:46:48

Do you have any opinion on immigration, though. Accounts, how it's talked about in the news or politically?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:46:56

I know, it's talked about a lot like it's a topic of controversy. I don't really have an opinion on it just because I don't, I am not that well versed in the subject. So,

 

Aaron Graham  1:47:08

And it doesn't become. And it's one of those things where it's not a personal thing.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:47:13

Yeah. That's, that's what makes it.

 

Aaron Graham  1:47:16

Yeah, 

 

Mayerli Molina  1:47:17

Yeah. I hate to admit that I'm not that invested in the subject, because it doesn't, and it hasn't applied to me personally.

 

Aaron Graham  1:47:24

Well. Is there anything that? Well, I mean, I guess if we talked about immigration, is there anything that you would think that has been neglected, like that? People that talk about immigration shouldn't know about Latinos, like that there? Is there something? And then maybe this isn't a fair question from what you just stated, if you're not following immigration, but you think that there's any, if there's anything that stands out, that people that talk about immigration should know that they're, they're just not including in the conversation, when they talk about, like Latinos immigrating,

 

Mayerli Molina  1:48:09

I think, when topics come up like that, you know, where it's, like, easy to get heated and caught up in the moment, it's important to know that these are people, you know, we're still people and everybody's going through their own thing. And people who emigrated from here, I mean, to hear our people and should be considered that way. Like, sometimes I hear people like talking about it, and they're talking about these people as if, you know, like it very negatively, you know, but everybody's going through their own situation, you don't know what has brought these people over here. And it's, we have to take that into consideration and be more thoughtful of the way we act and treat each other and the way we say what we say,

 

Aaron Graham  1:48:48

Generalize it a little bit, you know, sometimes where they just like sort of do a sweeping-

 

Mayerli Molina  1:48:53

Yeah, exactly. Like, you know, you know, the things people say. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:48:58

Okay, that's, that's fair. Is there anything else that you'd like the public to know about your life story?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:49:06

I think the public has heard a lot.

 

Aaron Graham  1:49:08

We've talked a lot. And anything that you would like students to take away from this interview?

 

Mayerli Molina  1:49:19

It's a good question. I wish I had an answer.

 

Aaron Graham  1:49:24

Well, it's, I mean, I don't know specifically. I don't know, try to, I mean, it's pretty open ended question. Is there anything specific in your life that you can think that people can, you know, take away to for something good, bad? Or anything else that we haven't talked about that you'd like to touch on? You know, that you're like, any blind spots, you're like, Hey, man, you didn't talk about didn't talk about the book club I'm in.

 

Mayerli Molina  1:49:59

No book club. But no, I just to put a bow on it. Like, I, I'm proud to be part of this culture, you know, even though that term and everything that comes along with it is sort of hard to understand. Because culture can be anything that you want it to be, but I'm happy to be here. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about my life. I hope it was nice to listen to. Yeah, no, like, I'm proud to be part of this culture, this community. I'm proud of my roots. I'm proud of everything. Yeah and no, nothing negative to say about it. Obviously, there's negatives about anything but no, I am happy to be here, happy to be sharing all of this with, with the public. 

 

Aaron Graham  1:50:55

I appreciate you reaching out to me and, you know, you know, seeking this out. And, you know, and being patient with me through the process, too. Thank you very much. All right.