“Who was the first U.S. president?” This question is repeated in Chinese and the answer is then given in English and Chinese. I spent five years of my life listening to the citizenship test questions being repeated again and again out of a Panasonic RX D55 boombox in the middle of my grandma’s living room. These questions were blasted at 8 in the morning; it was like my alarm. For me, this was difficult because it was a sign for me to wake up, but to my grandma, this boombox was a sign of hope. Around the early 1990s, my grandma decided to move her whole family to the U.S. for a better life. Back in China, her family was struggling financially and were looking for better opportunities. When they came to the U.S., my grandma was so excited to become a U.S. citizen because she would be given a lot more freedom and opportunity. She was extremely passionate about taking this exam, hence she attempted to take it twice in English, a foreign language where she only knew the alphabet to. She attempted multiple times in English and there were times when she would ask me for help. This was a memory I can never forget, as my first language wasn’t English either, so I was learning English with my grandma. In the end, she failed both exams in English and took the exam in Chinese. However, the boombox was such a big help in helping her memorize the questions; she still remembers most of the questions today. To her, passing the citizen test was one of her proudest moments.

– Winnie K Luo

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant