Isabella Alpire-Roca  00:03

Hi. My name is Isabel Alpire-Roca. I am a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Today I am interviewing Nicole Roca. I get it from Fairfax County, Virginia. Today is Monday, June, 24 to 2024 and the time is 5:54pm, this interview is being conducted over zoom. Nicole, thank you so much for allowing me to interview you today.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  00:35

Thank you for having me.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  00:39

Okay, so first I'd like to ask some questions about you, your family, your background. So could you start by sharing where your family is from and what your childhood was like, kind of like

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  00:53

how you grew up. Yeah. I mean, we're all from Bolivia. I grew up with my grandparents in Bolivia till I was a month short from turning eight. I hadn't met my parents yet. They lived over here in the States. Life over there, from what I remember, was pretty sweet. I was spoiled. I was the youngest. I was the first grandchild, first niece. So it was really good. From what I remember, I always got love from everyone with my grandparents, like they were, like my greatest they are my greatest love. Yeah, I don't really remember much anymore, just I tried to, like, there's a lot of parts that my mind has blocked off as well. So and I feel like, as I get older, I start to forget, like the little things, but from what I remember, my life over there was really good,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  02:07

and was it just like you and your grandparents in Bolivia?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  02:12

So it was my grandparents, my mom's sister, who is, I think, four years older than me, so it was just the four of us. And my mom does have two more other siblings, but they were off like in college, so it was just four of us all the time, and back home, where I grew up with Santa Cruz. And in Santa Cruz there's this little like town called San Ignacio. So I went to school there, and will travel back and forth a lot. And in Santa Cruz, we have, like, all the family. So we have pretty much all my family is over there, still, all of them alongside of the family. I

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  03:00

and so you said you came to the US when you were almost eight. What was that like?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  03:12

It was hard. I did not want to come here. I did not want to leave. I didn't want to meet my parents when I was in the airport and we arrived here, that's when they told me. My grandma told me that I was meeting my parents, and so I had I didn't even have any idea of what was going on. I just remember the day that I was at the airport back home, everybody was saying hi to me. They were crying, but I wasn't understanding why, until I got over here, and I remember still very vividly, I was in the airport bathroom in Miami, and I hit I ran away. I hit somewhere in the airport, and they had to call security to find me, because I did not want to meet these new people who I had never met before. And once they actually found me, I met my mom, which was the weirdest thing. I feel like it. It was the weirdest thing I've ever felt. She hugged me. She was pregnant with my little brother with undress. And I also met Alejandro, my brother and my dad, my dad, I remember I had like I was happy to meet him, and I was just so sad to have to meet my brother because I wasn't the only one anymore. And to me. My mom, because I felt like my grandma was my mom and my grandpa was my dad, like I called him mom dad even now, and everything was just so different. The in Miami, I feel like a lot of people still speak Spanish, so I heard it often, so I didn't like, know that language barrier yet. I spoke zero English. And when I came we went to all the theme parks we went to, like, universal, Disney, everything like a kid would want. So it hadn't like, set in mind yet what was happening, until we came here to Virginia, and they enrolled me in school. And it was in school when I found out I had a group of friends we were in, um, what do you call those classes? ESOL, like, so. ESOL, yeah. Like ESL, yeah, ESL. I was in one of those classes. So the group of friends that I had, they all spoke Spanish, but I had this one best friend, her name, and I still remember her name. It was Angie. Angie didn't speak Spanish, and to this day, I still have no idea how we communicated, because, like, we will go to the pool, we will hang out, we played out recess, we ate lunch together, and then one day, you know how you need to have the buddy system to use the bathroom. We were going to the bathroom, and my shoe is untied, and I stopped to tie my shoe, and she kept walking. And I'm like, Angie, Angie, espera, espera, por favor. Then, okay, Marlo sa Pato, and she didn't understand me. And I'm like, tie my shoe. And I'm like, Angie, porque no mecucha. And like, I guess she saw that. I got mad, so she came back, and she's like, What are you saying? Like, with hand gestures, like, What are you saying? And then I look up at her, and I'm talking to her in Spanish. I was like, No, me. Coach chatted the and she told me, she was like, Nicole, I me, me no noable Espanol, and then my head, I was like, what? Like, that's the minute that it set in, like, a whole, like, four months later, after I came over here that all these people don't speak my same language, and this is gonna sound horrible, but I was honestly embarrassed. I was so embarrassed. I was embarrassed like of our culture. I was embarrassed of our language, and I hated like speaking Spanish, so I started like reading books in English, listening to music, to TV, everything in English. And I picked it up really quick. And like, a good three months, and yeah, and then my mom, she didn't speak any English. So when we would go to, like, school events and stuff like that. I remember I used to be so embarrassed because she didn't speak any English, and my dad didn't either, and the very little that they did, it was very broken. So I was always embarrassed. And one time I remember, I told my mom, I was like, can you stop talking? You're embarrassing me. If you don't know how to speak English, don't talk. And to that, to this day, I still like regret saying that, because now I'm obviously, like, proud of like, where we come from and who we are. But at the time, I wasn't just like, I guess, in a way, like understanding. So I remember my childhood like it was once I came over here around my parents. It was a bit embarrassing.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  09:18

And, um, so when you got here, it was, it was it just you, your parents and your two younger brothers.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  09:28

Yes, it was just as I hated Alejandro growing up, my brother. I remember it was always like a comparison between the both of us. And I'm so used to being like the only child, in a way, and now, like I'm having to share things. We had to share a room. When I first came over here, I went from like having my own big room and my own toys and all. The attention to myself to not having to share it with him, and we would fight a lot, a lot, and with my parents, I never really got along with them, because they were still, in a way, like strangers. And with my mom, even then, it took us a long, long time to start, like talking to each other. And in mind, when I say long time, it's like when I was 15, yeah, we wouldn't really talk much. It was always just like, hi, bye, or how was your day? Not really like much more than anything else. And then with my dad, that was a bit different. With my dad, he was more understanding, more helpful. He we talked a lot more, but I never still had that, um, I guess, like, connection with him, because one I had in the back of my head that, like, Who is this man? Like, who is he to now? Tell me what to do? Like, I'm just now meeting you, yeah, and in my mind, like my grandpa was the only like that. He was, like, the one I trusted. And back home, like, I do have, like, some childhood trauma as well in there, so I didn't trust like other men around me, and my dad was one of them, even though, like, he loved me so much and always showed it and would never, ever, like put me in harm's way, I will still never let myself, like, fully, like, love him and like him, like even hugging and stuff like that. Like I wouldn't let him because of that trauma that I had, and me not like having that trust in Him, but yeah, and then he he left like when he went back home. He moved back to Bolivia when I was 15, um, and as you know, I recently saw him again. So that was pretty much my childhood. It was good my parents, they didn't fight in front of us, but they, um, you could tell it wasn't like a happy marriage. So I guess things were for the best that that did end. Um, but yeah,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  13:05

you said that you saw your dad. Does that mean you went back to Bolivia recently?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  13:09

Yeah, after 18 years. So I was on DACA. When DACA came out, it was the first thing we applied for. It took a long time to get approved. A long time I didn't get approved until 2015 20 Yeah, 2015 I had Elizabeth when I was 15, February 5, and the day that I came home from the hospital, so on, like February 7, I we grabbed the mail and we saw the approval letter. We got the card, everything. And with DACA, you can't travel, so you can do pretty much. It gives you a legal status to stay here, to study and to work. But other than that, you can't really do anything else. So yeah, then I met Raph Rafael, and it was a huge help. He we got married, the first thing that came into his mind was, you have to apply for your green card. Even that took some time, it took three years, and I finally was able to go back home after 18 years, even though I didn't get to see everyone after all this time, my grandma passed away. A lot of my family members passed away. So it was a long time I waited for and unfortunately with DACA, if I had gone out of the country to. Hmm, my grandma's funeral, nothing guaranteed me that they were going to let me back in, so I couldn't go to that either.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  15:14

And when were you able to get your green like, what was the kind of timeline? So you got DACA when you were 16, roughly 15, and then and you were able to get your green card recently, when

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  15:33

I just got my green card in October of last year. So October 2023, and I had applied back in 2021 so it took three years, even though. And it was very frustrating too, because I kept seeing people that kept coming in, and they were getting it like, almost immediately, and I'm over here, like, or some people that applied and got it in like, six months, and most of the time, like, you know, you're scared of, like, filing for these papers on your own, so you hire lawyers to do them, and the lawyer fee just for that is just for Filling out the paper. It's like, I think mine was like $700 just for the paper. And then on top of that, you have to play pay for the application, which is $1,700 and on top of that, you have to renew DACA every two years, so I had to renew mine in order to, like, still have my legal status. And the application for DACA is $500 and, yeah, and it's so frustrating because also the lawyers, like you're paying them as well for lawyer fees, and I pay like, a total of maybe $5,000 and I can't even imagine other people that have been waiting even longer than I did. I waited three years, but there's people that are waiting like 510 years, and they keep paying all these lawyer fees because they charge you for everything. So it was, it was frustrating, it was sad. It was a rough time waiting for that. I remember I would be, I kid you not, maybe, like, two times a week checking on the immigration page USCIS. I would always check and put my number in there and everything to see where my application was, and I would be so sad when, when there was, like, no update. Yeah,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  17:52

I'm glad you got it, though that was very congratulations. What's the process now? Because are you? Are you going to apply for citizenship?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  18:04

Yes. So since it's through marriage that I got my green card, I can apply next year. So they have you wait two years, think it's two or three years, and then you can apply for your citizenship. If I didn't get married and I had applied for my green card by myself, I would have had to wait five years. Yeah, you have to be a resident for five years to then apply for your citizenship.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  18:49

That's a lot, that's a lot of time to wait to become, yeah, it is a citizen, like, technically, like, you've been waiting for like, almost 20 years.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  18:58

Yeah, I have.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  19:02

Well, you're so close,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  19:04

I know. And that's another thing too. Why I, I applied for um, I applied to Nova literally three hours ago, because with DACA, you can't apply for for FAFSA, yeah, you can't apply for any of those things so on in and on top of that, you would have to pay out of state tuition as to in state. Yeah,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  19:38

that's a lot for community college, being man, so you applied today. What did you apply for? What did I apply for? Uh, yeah, like, enroll into

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  19:52

I'm going into psychology, so I'm not sure yet. If just clinical therapy. Just or into criminal justice.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  20:07

Very cool. Congratulations on that too. That must be a lot easier with FAFSA and everything that's yes, a whole lot

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  20:16

easier. And back then, like when I only had DACA, it was such a shock anytime, like, I wanted to apply for, like, for example, for a car loan through at the time, I had Apple Federal Credit Union, and I couldn't get approved because I was on DACA. And so, like, you keep learning things that you can and can't do, like, as you're trying in life, and you're like, Okay, I can't do that. What else can I do? Yeah,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  20:54

that's a lot like that. There's, like, a lot of restrictions that DACA has on people,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  20:59

yes, which is crazy, because I work in Nova, and a lot of nurses, a lot of like professionals. They're on DACA as well, and yeah, and you think, like, I mean, we look like normal people. We pay taxes, we do just everything else that, like a regular citizen does, except that we have so so many restrictions on what we can do and what we can't do. Can you,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  21:39

if you're comfortable, can you talk a little bit more about, like, the things that you weren't able to do under DACA?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  21:47

Um, pretty much for more secure like loans, like, for example, like Apple, federal, credit union, um, the lady literally told me she's like, No, you we can't approve you because you're on the dreamers act. And I remember I asked her. I was like, what does that mean? She's and she was like, that you can go back to your country at any time. Yeah. Then I was so shocked. I was like, Oh my gosh, okay. Well, I wonder what else like I can't do. And the other thing was, when I was applying to college and in school, in high school, when you're a senior, you apply to FAFSA. They make you apply to all these things while you're at school. But I had no idea like that. I wasn't able to and my teachers, they didn't know that I was on DACA, and that didn't it. I mean, it would never even have crossed, like, my head to like, tell them, hey, I'm on DACA. I didn't think that put any limits on me. So I'm applying. And then I remember, I saw my email and they said I was I was denied that I had to go in person to Nova so they can explain to me. So I'm like, okay, so we go to Nova. In mind, you, I had taken the placement test, I had done everything chosen on my classes, all of that. And then they tell me, Hey, you don't, we can't approve, like they can't approve FAFSA for you because of your status. And I'm confused, because I still hadn't understood what all of that meant. And my parents never explained that to me either, and so I asked him, I was like, what does that mean? And they were like, oh, because you're on DACA, you you would have to pay out of state tuition, and you don't approve for FAFSA because, because you have DACA. So people, like, can't really give you answers either, because they don't know. They just know that you don't approve for that, because you have DACA. So all the, all the time that I was, like, in the process of college and stuff like that, it was all the time, oh, no, you have DACA, so you're gonna have to do this. Oh no, you have DACA, so you can't do that. It puts a lot of limits.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  24:30

Wow, I had no idea that's I thought it like, honestly, like, what most people think is like, oh, you can't do FAFSA if you don't, like, if you don't have any legal status. But they never really mentioned how, like, even DACA, like, which is a legal status, doesn't have access to that either.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  24:51

Yeah, not just FAFSA, also like government help, like food stamps, Medicaid, all that stuff you can't. Month, really? Yeah, I didn't know

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  25:10

that either. That sucks. Well, I'm glad you have residency now and you're gonna get your citizenship.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  25:21

That makes things a lot easier. For sure, so many, so many things are so much easier now,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  25:32

kind of going back into about your background. Did you grow up with religion?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  25:40

Yes and no, I back home. My grandma would take me to church, and I did go to a Catholic school, so they teach you religion in school. Um, we did. We went to church on Wednesday, Wednesday nights and Sunday, Sunday mornings. Then I came over here. And my parents are not as religious, but they did put me and I think it's mostly because my grandma wanted me to still keep like practicing religion. They put me in Sunday school and to take my first communion, and I did that for, I think, four years, and which, honestly, at the time, was looking back pointless, because I didn't speak English, and the classes were in English. And for some reason, I don't know why I when it comes to like religion, I understand it in Spanish more than I do in English. So I know all my prayers and everything in Spanish, but I don't know them. Even now. Alejandro did it too, my brother, he also went to Sunday school. We never took our first communion. I yeah, I don't know what happened, but we just stopped going one day. Never went back. And we would go for Easter, to church and to ash Wednesdays, and then that was about it. That was it. I still believe in God. Though I still believe in God, I still believe there's a God out there. But as far as like, religion, I grew up Catholic, but don't really practice it. Okay?

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  27:58

Yeah, I honestly, I understand the whole thing about, like, understanding it in Spanish, but not in English. I don't know why. Like, if anyone asked me to pray, I would not do it in English. I can,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  28:09

even when I'm praying, I cannot do it in English. Like, I have to talk to God in Spanish. Like,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  28:17

it doesn't feel real, if it's

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  28:19

right, like, like, that's not me, like me when I'm praying in Spanish. So weird.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  28:33

Okay, so we kind of already thought this next section, we kind of already talked about when you talked about how you came to the US, but, um, do you know why your parents decided to come to Virginia? Like, how did you end up in Virginia?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  28:52

That's a hard question. Because, like, truthfully, I mean, and and my parents are divorced. So with my dad and with my mom, it was a pretty nasty divorce, so her family is on her side, and from ever since I was little, they always put into my head, or when my mom would get mad, she would put into my head that my dad came over here trying to escape his parental roles. So he left me and my mom back in Bolivia, and he because he came over here as soon as I turned one, he came over here, and from what he tells me is that he wanted to give me a better life, and that's what I go by, that obviously he wanted to give me a better. Life, and then my mom came over here when I was two. I don't know why she left me. I think it had to do with my grandparents not agreeing on her coming over here with my dad. My dad didn't have anything yet. He didn't have a house. He didn't have an apartment. I don't even think they had a car yet. He was renting a room in a basement. And from what he told me is that he didn't even have a bed yet. That, yeah, that he got a bed when she came over here, and they both came. They were earning like 725, an hour. And shortly after, that's when she, my mom, got pregnant with my brother. And, yeah, I think they were just trying to, first be stable and have a home. They did end up buying an apartment and fur backs, um, it was a two bedroom apartment, one bathroom, and I came over here, and I don't know. Honestly, sometimes I think about it, and I do wonder what my life would have been like if I was still over there, and if I had never came over here. I feel like it goes vice versa. Um, because, like I said, I did have childhood trauma over there. So, like, would that still happen? And would have that affected me if, if I stayed there and it kept on going, or was it God's plan, in a way, to, like, save me and bring me over here to not have to grow up with that even more. But then again, I'm like my family over there. They're, they're really wealthy. My grandpa has like, three gas stations. He was the mayor. He they have multiple businesses all throughout so they're, they're pretty well off, and his kids never had to even now, like his his oldest kid doesn't he works, but like he's like, my grandpa still provides for him and his family and my mom's youngest sister, same thing with her, like she lives off of my of my grandpa, so and they all went to college. They all finished. They all have a pretty nice life. I'm not saying that. I don't now, but I had to work for it. I had to work hard for it. I had to start working at a young age. I pretty much came over here to people that I had never even met before, and I don't remember, like even talking with them on the phone. So I didn't even know of them, and so I never, I'm not, not that I didn't get along with them, but I didn't, I mean, I didn't, I guess, trust them, especially with my mom, I didn't have a relationship with her, and then with my dad, I didn't let myself have a relationship with him, and then he ended up leaving through the divorce, literally seven years after I met him. So to me, that was like, like going back home recently and seeing how nice things are for our family back home some I came back with, um, like, a huge shock, and I, in a way, also, like, very frustrated with my parents for bringing me here, when I feel like things could have been a lot easier over there. But it goes. I'm, I don't know. I'm biased on it. I'm like, it goes two ways, because it could have been bad, it could have been good, but I'm here now when this is life.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  34:33

Yeah, and so you the family that you have been talking about over there that's been your mom's side of the family, like your mom's parents,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  34:44

yes, my mom's parents, my mom's family.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  34:47

Okay? And what about your dad's side? Did you have any connection to them at all?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  34:53

Not really. I mean, I know of them, but I was never close to them. Um. Um, yeah, the only that side of the family that I have is over here, you guys, that's it. Like of everyone else back home, I know of them. I've seen them in pictures. I don't remember seeing them when I was little. Um, I know that both sides of my family, like my mom's side and my dad's side, they always had issues while I was growing up, so it was always like, on back and forth, things on, oh, Nicole can't do that, or Nicole can't do this, like between families. So the only ones that I pretty much know from over there is my dad's mom, my grandma and my dad's sister, youngest sister. That's it. I

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  36:04

His youngest sister lives here, though,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  36:09

right? Oldest sister? His oldest sister? Yes, that's his oldest sister. She were here. I didn't meet her till I was over here. His youngest sister, she's, I think, like five years, five, six years older than I am. So I did, I did spend a lot of time with her. When I would go to Santa Cruz, I would spend a lot of time with her and with my grandma,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  36:45

that's nice, though, that you had some connection with them while you were over there. So long since, like, it was such a long gap between you leaving and coming back.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  36:59

Yeah, it was, I feel like it was a huge shock for them too. They they still like, I guess remember me as a little girl, like how they left me when I went into my grandpa's um, house. I went with, you know, Raphael Elizabeth and undress. We all went. And I'm married now I have a kid, and we get home and we're like, seeing what rooms we're staying in. And my aunt, she's like, Oh, Nicole, that room is for you. And Rafael that that room over there is going to be for you, and then dress has that room over there, and Elizabeth can sleep with either Raphael or Nicole. And I'm like, why can't I sleep with my husband? They were all kind of like, yeah, you can have a big room back, you're the ultimate there. So they still a lot of a lot of things. They still imagine. They still pictured me as the little girl. Like how I left? Yeah, I uh, some

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  38:25

of these questions, like you've already, like, answered in a way, so I'm trying to reword them. Um, what was like the school switch, like when you got here, besides being put in, like, ESL classes and ESOL classes. Um, after you learned English, what was that like? Were there still differences between here and over there?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  38:52

Yeah, I feel like over there the kids are a lot more advanced than they are here. Um, when I came over here the I was supposed to be in third grade, but because I didn't speak English, they made me repeat second grade. And I already knew how to multiply. I already knew how to divide. I could read already chapter books in second grade. So it was a huge difference, because a lot of the multiplication math and that sorts of things, even science. Even science. The only thing I guess would be hard would be social studies, history, because I didn't know the history of here, but yeah, everything else I remember was easy. I would get through tests so quick I would I already knew most of the stuff.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  40:03

Yeah, and like, socially, what were the changes there?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  40:10

Socially? It was. It was hard once I learned the language barrier that I had, because at first, you know, kids will be, kids will some way, understand each other, and I would play with everyone. And then once I noticed the language difference and the cultural difference and that everything here was different. That's when I I kind of like shut myself off. And because I was very outgoing as a kid, I was very talkative, and then I became this shy little girl that would barely speak, and I only spoke to my little group of friends that had like my similarities. And once I did learn English, and you know, more things about the culture over here, I still it was still hard, because I would a lot of the times I would think like, Oh, are they gonna judge me? Or because we went to for Fox city, we went to let I went to, um, Daniel's run. And it's not really, it's not very diverse. At least when I was going there, it was not diverse at all. So a lot of the kids were were white kids, and it was just a huge, huge shock to me, just knowing more, I think I was more embarrassed. Honestly, I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed and I was scared that I was going to be judged. And when we moved to Springfield, it was even more different, because they're the population of the kids, it was mainly Latinos, and everything was so much different than going to school in Fairfax, even the education was a huge difference. And stuff that stuff that I didn't know like existed. I learned when, when we moved to Springfield, like I didn't know any bad words. I only needed Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus when I went to Daniel's run and then moving to Springfield, I learned every bad word in the book. I learned a whole lot of things that like kids our age shouldn't even know. And in a way, I felt more more, I guess, not accepted, but because even then, it was still hard, because I'm white, my skin color is white. And a lot of the kids, when I moved to Springfield and they realized I spoke Spanish, they would some of them did make fun of me, and they were like, oh, but you're white. You're not a true Hispanic. And that felt, that felt bad, because I felt at times, like, really lost, like, Where do I belong? Like, even now, even now, when I tell people, I'm like, Oh, I'm Bolivian, nobody like, you're Bolivian, but you're white, and I'll be like, do it seriously? Like, does that even matter?

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  44:16

Man? And what has like? So you've gone through the school system here, but you've also seen it like as like a parent, what has it been like this? Like, what has the school system been like with your daughter, too? Now,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  44:34

I feel like now, and she made sure to pick a good school, a good area where she could go to school too, is very diverse, but I mean, Elizabeth, she's very outgoing, she's super friendly. She gets along with anyone. So I feel like for her, it's. Yeah, it's easier. And I feel like nowadays, like we're learning more about diversity and different cultures, that it's getting more widely accepted, especially since they're teaching it also in schools. You know that there's different cultures than international nights. And like, I remember my school, we didn't have that until I moved to Springfield. In Springfield, they did have international night, like multicultural night, they did have that, but in Fairfax, where the school was not diverse at all, they, they did not have things like that. So with her, I feel, I feel a lot better. I feel like the school system, in a way, it is getting better at being more diverse with kids and and accepting everyone and and each other. That's good.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  46:20

How often do you talk and see like, talk to your family that's still in Bolivia.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  46:29

Back then, I used to not talk to them much. Um, I mean, I love them, and I knew they loved me, but it was hardly ever honestly when my grandma was alive, I will talk to her often through WhatsApp. And then when she passed away, I had my grandpa, but I didn't really talk to him until my grandma passed away and and I realized I'm like, Hey, like Life is short, like enjoy or talk as often as you Can to them, because when my grandma passed away and she was in the hospital, um, her death was very sudden, so when we learned that she was in the hospital, I couldn't believe it, like, I could not process it. I was like, Oh, it's just like, something like little like, she'll get over it, like she'll get out of it, but I was still scared, so I didn't talk to her, I didn't call her, I didn't text her, nothing with that store. I was just too scared to do so. But that made me realize that it can't be like that, that you have to, you have to talk to the people you love, that you can't, can't waste time. So I talk to them often. Now, especially after going back and seeing everyone and reuniting with everyone, I talk to them often every day.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  48:25

That's good. And do you have any family that lives like in the area near you?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  48:34

Just my dad's side of the family? Yeah, that's

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  48:39

1. No one else from your mom's side came over,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  48:43

no one else. And if she does, um, I think she maybe has, like, a few cousins in Florida, but I don't talk to them. I don't talk to them. It's just my immediate family that I talk to and and that's it. And then over here, it's, it's literally just the Roca side, that's it. And it's just like, like, literally you guys. Because to my dad's sister, I don't talk to her either. She has her own life going on. Yeah, so you guys, that's it. That's all the family we have

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  49:27

no David doesn't really talk to anybody. Like, I think she only, um, she only messaged Sylvia to ask about, like, contacts. And that was, like, it recently, no way, yeah, even though, um, Fabio graduated to she didn't say anything, yeah. And I was like, oh, okay, God, I guess

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  49:58

I'll see her from time to. Time, like a parties, but it's just like, bye, bye.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  50:05

Yeah, she kind of, she keeps to herself a little more, yeah. So the following questions are about your life in Virginia specifically. So what was Fairfax County like when you moved there, and how has it changed over time?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  50:30

When I first moved here, I think Fairfax County, it's such a big county that is I think every part is just so different because, like I mentioned, like when I went to school in burfax City, Daniels run, it wasn't diverse at all. So the people there, the the foods, everything, it's mainly, it's it's not, yeah, it's not diverse at all. And then moving, you move to Springfield, to, like, this area over here, and it's so much different, so much different, like, even the streets, the shops, the restaurants, like, it's more Latino community, like you have, you know, like Peruvian chicken, you have pupusas. You have everywhere on this side of town as to over there, where you'll have, mainly, like, cheeseburgers and, you know, just fast food chains and Dunkin Donuts and stuff like that. But lately, it has changed a lot. It's become more modern. I feel like, I feel like it is becoming more diverse also. I mean, I really haven't gone back and forth. I really just stay like in our area over here, because we have everything over here. But, yeah, I feel like perfect County has made a huge improvement on in being able to include kids of all different cultures. That's good.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  52:35

So kind of going more in depth into like the Latino community in Fairfax. What has your experience been like with the Latino community there?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  52:47

I feel like my my own personal experience, um, I feel like it's been good working at Inova you have, I feel like in Nova is a very, very diverse culture, wise, you have from like, people from everywhere, working at the hospitals, especially Fairfax. And Fairfax is the campus I worked on. It's so huge. You have over 10,000 employees, and it's a very, very diverse workplace, and you have all sorts of cultural groups. So we have the Latin X, they called it. And when I was in the office, before I switch remote, I would help them out with events and stuff like that, and we they, I mean, they do so much, also for the community, to get all everybody involved. Um, so I can only speak for myself, because I know not everyone can feel the same. Like I was speaking to a co worker that recently joined our team, and her experience growing up like in Fairfax County. She's in like, the leave Leesburg area, though, so not really Fairfax County, but she's like, over there in Loudoun. Her experience is totally different from mine, because I grew up in an area where we like, I said, like once, once we moved to this to like Northern Virginia, like Springfield area, Alexandria area, it was more culturally diverse. As to her, she was saying, How in Leesburg, even now, it's very it's not diverse at all. So her experience in life has been totally different. People have been rude to her. She's gotten like she told me just last week that. Has gotten told to, like, to, like, go back to her country and stuff like that. And I can, I can't say the same thing, because I haven't experienced, oh, I'm lying. Actually, we did in but that was in New Jersey. In New Jersey, we were we stopped at a gas station, and we were speaking Spanish. So we were there with my aunt, who was visiting from Olivia, with my cousin Andres, my brother, Raphael and Elizabeth, and we were speaking Spanish. And the man behind us, he asked my aunt. He was like, Hey, do you speak? Do you Do you know how to speak English? And she was like, yes, because she speaks, she does speak English. And she was like, Yes. And then he was like, well, the fucking speaker you're in America. Who do you think you are to be to not speak English? I don't know what you're what you're saying or what you're speaking, but you don't do that in our country. Yeah. He was like, yelling. He was so mad. And I was telling that experience to my co worker, and she was like, Oh yeah, over here, like in my area, you see that all the time. And to me, that was a huge shock, because I'm like, oh my god, that was my first time ever in life experiencing such thing. And if it felt it felt awful that one time, I can't imagine to like people, that happens to them often. So I mean, yeah, to me, personally, I feel like the majority of it has been good. I've never been I've never been told, like racist things other than, I mean, it's not really racist, but, like, you know, just other than growing up and and kids telling me that I wasn't like a true Hispanic, or that I wasn't Latina because of my skin color. And, yeah, I I feel like my experience personally, it's been good. I have at work within Nova, done events where we go out to communities, or like, where the events where they have, like the food trucks and stuff like that, and we get people involved, and it's completely free. Also we get, like, food trucks, different vendors. There's face painting for kids, DJ raffles. When there's events, same thing for they have the black life matters group where they do the same thing. So I feel like in our area, speaking for me personally, I do see a lot of of groups and events trying to involve more people to be culturally diverse than and for for those that are not part of our culture, to educate them and for them to share our culture, for us to share our culture with them.

Isabella Alpire-Roca  58:27

I'm glad that you've had good experiences. It kind of sucks when, when people don't, and it kind of stays with them.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  58:36

It does. I felt, I felt awful, because same thing for I mean, like, you see it on, on the like, on Tiktok and and social media, those things happening all the time. But like, I had never thought that it would be, like, so close to home here, like, yeah, it's worse still happening,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  59:02

yeah, and it sucks that, like, what happened in New Jersey? Like, I know it's it wasn't here, but it's still like, yeah, side eyeing Yes. It's

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  59:14

like, okay, I Yeah.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  59:25

So this question is, I'm gonna actually edit it. Kind of not edit it, but reword it a little bit because of your DACA status. Growing up, until a few years ago, you weren't able to get a lot of government help. Have you were, have you been able to find any other resources to help you with your life, like day to day life in the US while you've been in Virginia or

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  59:55

no? No, not really. I. Mean, pre covid, there wasn't any, I feel like help in a way, or, yeah, I honestly, really don't know. I never reached out for help either, um, but, yeah, no, we just, I didn't

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:00:32

you've talked about your your current job right now with, I know, but what other jobs have you had while living here,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:00:42

I've had a lot of jobs. When my first job was at John David hair salon, and I did not have I did not have papers yet, so they were paying me like under the table. I mean, thank God for them, because, you know, I had a kid to provide for. So, yeah, so that was my first job. I lasted there three years, and I was actually in cosmetology classes, and it was just such a toxic environment the hair industry. So I ended up quitting from that. Then I went to the halal guys and oh, and when I started, working, I started earning $8 an hour. Yeah, it was $8 an hour. Um, then at the halal guys, I went up to, I think it was like 979, 50. I lasted there, I think a good six months, I hated it. That's where I found out the food industry is not for me. Then I worked at our at a retirement place, at our retirement home, I was there maybe three months, and, yeah, it was same thing. The one of the residents there they he was actually one of the ones that one one day he heard me speaking Spanish with my co worker, and he was like, Oh, you're you're a Latina. I was like, I speak Spanish. I'm from Bolivia. And he literally got so obsessed with me. He got so obsessed with me that one day he he was so amazed that I was like, Hispanic, and that he was like, you don't look Latina, so, but he said that my accent, like, was, was like, so good or whatever. So, yeah, he basically, like, kidnapped me one time into his room, yeah, like, he made me take the his lunch tray, and the tables were like, inside his their rooms. So I put the he asked for, like, room service, and I went dropped off the food. And next, you know, when I turn around, he's like, standing by the door, and he's like, you're not, you're not getting out of here. I was like, What do you mean? I yes girl, so, yeah. After that, I never went back. I did not go back. I had to call the receptionist to go open the door. Yeah, yeah. So after that, I didn't work for a little bit. And, my God, where else did it work? The retirement home. Oh, we did also do, um, I will used to do mountain biking for a group called trails for youth, and they are based in Springfield, and they help low income households their kids. They help the kids to learn more about nature and by so, they provide bikes for the kids, helmets, rides. Sometimes even food. Hiking, we go. We used to go hiking, fishing, mountain biking, and it was all paid for by them. Most of the kids were they mainly focused. Um in the Latino community, because in Springfield, most of them are Hispanics. And the school we went to in limbro, it's mainly Latino kids, so they were a huge help. And I, I think I can speak on behalf of myself and on behalf of the kids that I grew up with going to these things, they helped us out so much in life, like a lot of us still talk to this day, we still hang out from time to time, and I um, yeah, they, they provided me a job, like, as a youth counselor. So when I was like, 16, they I was, like, teaching the kids how to the things about bikes, then, um, teaching some of them had to ride a bike or how to, like, you know, like, over branch, and we would go to, like, trails and stuff like that. And, yeah, that was, like, my, my summer job, um, as a youth counselor, they helped me out a lot, honestly. Um, after that, I also worked at Krispy Kreme. I worked at Krispy Kreme, I lasted there a year, then I worked at Pandora. Pandora, yeah, Pandora jewelry. And honestly, I love the job. I miss it. Um, but yeah, that wasn't getting me anywhere either. So then I eventually started working at Innova, and I went in with the intentions of either doing nursing, and I've always, always, like, my whole entire life, I wanted to go into psychology.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:07:02

So

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:07:05

then the pandemic happened. And after that pandemic happened, yeah, nursing was not for me. Yeah, it's not for me. I still want to go into psychology, but, yeah, I just realized a lot of and also, like, after meeting, because I also thought about doing gynecology, and I got to talk to some of the doctors there, and, you know, ask them, and ask some questions, and learn the process and stuff like that. And I realized that was also not the life I wanted. So yeah, here I am now.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:07:52

And, well, it's a lot of they're very interesting jobs.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:07:59

Oh, and Burlington. And Burlington. Burlington and I just quit Burlington, really? Yeah, I was there part time. I started in January, just for like, a little extra income. But kids are out of school now, so I rather stay home with them,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:08:33

kind of going along you you already mentioned a little bit like the pandemic. So the following questions are about your experiences during the covid, 19 pandemic. Where were you living when the pandemic started? And how did you learn about it?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:08:49

Virginia. I learned about it through work. They mentioned it at work. We were not prepared at all. I don't think anyone was. But, yeah, I remember hearing about it and them telling us and, you know, telling us everything's going to be okay to not worry. A lot of us didn't think that it would last this long. I remember everybody used to say, Oh, it's just gonna last three months. Oh, just one year. Oh, this is just like news like to hype it up, like it's only gonna last like three weeks, then it's gonna die off. But I don't think anybody thought it was going to be well. I'm sure people did, but a lot of us, including myself, didn't think it was going to be as serious as as it has been.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:09:57

How did your family deal with. If like you and your family, deal with the changes, like The Stay At Home orders and like working from home,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:10:08

it's so different my experience than Raphael's experience, because I stayed working all throughout it, my day to day did not change. I still had the same hours. The only thing that changed was probably doing some overtime at work because the help was needed. But my life honestly did not change to me, like I know all the awful things that were happening around and I saw those things happening around me, but my day to day just it didn't change at all. I still had to wake up at 530 in the morning to be at work at six. I still came home. I still went to the grocery store, obviously, just taking precautions, but I still did everything that I did in my day to day life. But Raphael, for example, he can't relate, because he did get laid off, and he was home for some time, and he did get really depressed at one point. I mean, thankfully we did. He did have his savings, so he was prepared, if anything, but, but both of our experiences, for example, just so different. And Elizabeth as well. She had to start kindergarten online. That was the silliest thing, honestly, that I've ever seen. She was having to do PE gym online. That was so funny. She would like stand in front of the camera and do jumping. Yeah, and a lot of these kids, like, they didn't know how to use a computer, um, I had to put her daycare closed from one day to another. Um, yeah, I literally closed. Like, you know, they called us, they sent an email saying, hey parents, like, we're gonna be closed for the next week, and I'm here, like, Oh my God. Like, okay. Like, what do we do? Like, what am I supposed to do? I had to stay home with her, and because I didn't have, like, a babysitter and stuff like that, because everybody closed, everything closed. And after that week, they were like, Oh yeah, we're gonna be closed for the next three weeks. And then I guess that's when it started setting in that okay, like, this is really serious, like, this is not gonna end anytime soon. I found her a babysitter. So that's one, I guess one thing that did change, she had to go from preschool, from a whole like daycare center, like having classrooms and everything to to a babysitter. Um, then when she actually started school, it was one babysitter trying to help out like six other kids. That was not working out. Um, she had to end up going with my mom and staying home with her, and she was home pretty much all the time. Yeah, so all three of us had very different experiences.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:13:58

Were any of your family members or anyone close to you, impact like severely impacted by covid.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:14:08

I did have family, especially in Bolivia, they don't have the same resources that we do over here. So I did have, I wasn't very close with them, so I'm still like, Well, I wasn't in shock or anything because I knew of them, but it didn't really affect my day to day. But I do know of family members that did pass away, but thank God it was nobody close to me. Okay,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:14:49

that's good. How do you think Latinos were impacted by the pandemic? 

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:15:02

seeing it firsthand at the hospital, they were very impacted. I think the minority were impacted a lot more. A lot of them are uninsured. A lot of them are scared of going into a hospital because they're scared of the bills and not knowing English or not knowing what resources they have available to them. A lot of them were just scared in general, because they don't know how to speak English. But they don't know that in the hospitals we had, you know, interpreters available, it's a free service. So it impacted them a lot, I can say, I'm glad in Nova did help them, and not just the patients. They helped us as employees too, with a lot of resources. But yeah, they were, they were, they were affected. They were impacted. They it was. It was a lot on them. A lot of them were in the beginning, when covid first started. They had, they had no way of paying for like them, their medications, like out of pocket and stuff like that. Um, and I I do know even of some, like family members, that they reached out to me and they were like, hey, like, we don't know if we should go in or or not, because, you know, we don't have insurance, we don't have this, we don't have that. And they think, because they don't have a social security number either, that they don't, that they won't get attended to, but in reality, they do, but it's just that a lot of people in our community do not know and do not know what resources are available to them. 

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:17:17

Yeah, I think it's honestly a really, like common misconception that, like, people who are undocumented have no help at all. Yeah, honestly, I think it's on purpose, like people don't talk about it as much, to make them think they don't have help.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:17:39

Yeah, for especially because if you think about it like back home, like, for example, in Bolivia, if you go to a hospital because you're dying, you have to pay them up from first and if have the money, they don't give you the attention. They won't give you any medical attention. So I think a lot of them over here, and it's a it's like that for a lot of like, third world, like countries. So they, they they're here, and they think the same. They think, oh, I don't have this, so they're not gonna attend to me, or I don't have a lot of them were scared because they were undocumented, so you're like, what was going to happen?

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:18:33

Did you and your family get vaccinated?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:18:40

We were required to working in healthcare. We were required to get all three shots. I did give Elizabeth two of the shots and then wrap was also required once he did go back into work, he was required to also be vaccinated. I I

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:19:05

just have a few last questions. This is the last section of the interview. Do you feel like you belong in Fairfax County?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:19:20

I Yes, then no, I feel like I say yes, because I've been here all 18 years of my life, so far like 18 years since I came here. So I've gotten so used to it, and now that I'm married, I have to, you know, consider, and he's made it clear that he does not want to move, that Virginia is the place for him. So honestly, that's a good question. I don't know. Have thought about it before. I have thought about moving to like Florida, where you see more of our, our culture over there. But honestly, I'm, I'm not sure like sometimes I I say yes, but it goes back to before, as to I had a lot of much of a different experience than than other people did. Um, so I don't know yet.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:20:40

Do you think there's anything specifically that prevents you from feeling like that's like where you belong,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:20:50

like here in Virginia? I think? Mm, I think it's mainly with, with just the way things are around here. Then it has to do with, with culture, I feel like a lot of my friends are very culturally diverse. Um, same with co workers, so I feel like in that sense, it doesn't affect me. Um, but then again, Virginia is so big, so depending on what side of like Virginia you go to, you see different things. So I have gone like to other places in Virginia where I felt like I definitely did not belong. So I don't know. Have you

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:22:07

ever admitted any parts of your identity to try and fit in

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:22:15

growing up when I was in elementary school? Yes, I did. I remember I would try to hide my accent so hard and that, I mean, that wouldn't work. But yeah, now, now I don't ever since middle school. Um, yeah, ever since middle school, I I do not um, I now learn to, like, be proud of where I come from, and proud of of, like, how I grew up and and of my parents, like my mom knows English now, um, apparently my dad does too, so, um, so I've learned to or I've accepted who I am now and where my camp family came from or comes from. Um, but yeah, if looking back into elementary school, I'm like, What the hell was I thinking? Like, like, why would I ever tell my mom that? Like, Hey, don't talk. Like I used to be so embarrassed of, like, walking into school with her because, like, because of, you know, she didn't know English. So I did for that bit of time, but after that, no, I openly, like, admitted, like, who I am and but I think that also had to do with me moving to Springfield and seeing that there's also, like, the majority of them were Hispanic kids, so I could relate more to them in the sense of language and and knowing, like some of the same things. But if I had stayed over there, I think things would have like in for imperfect city, I feel like things might have been a bit more different. Yeah,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:24:26

and what do you think of how the issue of immigration is talked about by politicians and the public in general?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:24:38

I have talked to some people. And honestly, it just sucks because, like I said, like, with being on DACA and experiencing it, like firsthand or on in people or also friends, when I will tell them, Oh yeah, like, I'm. I can't go to like Mexico with you guys. There were a lot of them were always shocked, and they were like, oh, what's DACA? Oh, what is that? And I feel like sometimes people are not very knowledgeable in the things going on around them that they don't realize, like, that a lot of people around them, like, don't either don't have a legal status or the way they came in. Like, I have some friends that that came through the border, that had to have through Mexico, had to, you know, go through an entire experience. As to me, I just came through an airplane and then just stayed here illegally. A lot of people don't realize, like, what people around them are going through and have gone through to be able to have the same opportunities as they are, to have a better life, to to get the education they need. A lot of them also provide for their family here and back home and and that's just not talked about often, about how much of our time and our sacrifice in the workforce like we, we put in it too, like we. A lot of us pay taxes just like anyone else, and we're not receiving the same benefits as everyone else, like I can speak for DACA recipients, because I know like what, what we can and cannot do, but as far as like us, like we can't, there's So so many things that we cannot do. And we're just as normal as everyone else, like I remember, through the pandemic, also a lot of help we couldn't get, we couldn't receive, just because of being on DACA. But I'm like, Okay, I'm paying taxes, but I can't apply to Medicaid. I do this, but I can't get in State College, like, what I it's definitely something that has to be looked into. A lot of DACA recipients are also, if you have any like offense or felony, anything like that, they take your daco immediately. So looking into like social media and stuff like that, and how some people speak so negative about, you know, immigrants that are just here trying to study and have a better life, it makes me so upset because they don't realize that that's not us, that's we're not The ones out here getting felonies and and, like, getting a criminal status and all this, like, we're working just as hard as you are. And that's what people don't realize. They just put one one picture, one one title, just because other people are doing it, and they generalize the whole population. And I that's what's wrong. That's what the main change needs to be and looked into, because we're just as regular as everybody else is. Yeah.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:28:56

What would you like the politicians and the general public to know about Latinos.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:29:06

We're awesome people. We're great like learn to learn our culture and go fall in love, like I have friends who just by listening to our music, you know, they they become more culturally invested in us, like in learning more about us than in our history, and we're just fun. We're we're not airy, we're not different.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:29:39

What would you like the public to know from your life story?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:29:51

No, um, no, from my life. Story I would want people to know, to not be scared, to express who you are and where you come from. Do not be embarrassed. I had to learn a lot from that, from the embarrassment thing, that was just a bad part in life. I don't know, like just looking back, I don't know why I was embarrassed. I just know that I was but, yeah, just accept who you are, and life goes on. If somebody doesn't like the way you dress or the way you look because of your culture, then ignore them. So be it.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:30:57

And what would you like people to take away from the interview,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:31:03

from the interview. Like, take away,

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:31:09

yeah, it's kind of like, it's a similar question, just kind of like, what are like the main points you want them to take away from it,

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:31:21

be more open to immigration. I feel like people hear the word immigration and think of this horrible thing. A lot of people don't realize also that image immigrating can be to any part of the world, like, not just here, like, if Think of yourself as if you're, you know, going to Mexico for a vacation. Like, in a way, you're immigrating to their country. You're enjoying their food, you're enjoying their vibe. It's the same thing for us over here. Don't be scared of of the word immigration. Be more open to it. Be learn about it. Educate yourself. Not everything is, do your research. Not everything is it's just black and white. It's not what you just hear on the news or politician speaking. There's a lot more to it. Go out to your neighbors, ask them a question or two, and and that's the thing with us. I feel like a lot of a lot of immigrants, are so open to their stories that they'll, they're, they will openly, like, tell you their story and what they had to overcome and endure and to be able to have the life that they have now. Yeah, yeah, just be more open minded.

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:33:06

And is there anything that you want to add that we not we may not have talked about today?

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:33:17

I think so

 

Isabella Alpire-Roca  1:33:21

that's okay. Well, that's all the questions I have for you today. Thank you so much for speaking with me.

 

Nicole Roca Aguirre  1:33:29

Yes, you're welcome. You.