Sonia & Her Journey

Let's face it, how many of you have really given a hoot about the immigrants in America? Feel free to pass judgments, but I rarely thought of them unless I was making some racy remark as a joke to a Latino friend of mine, all in good fun of course. This lecture, however, made me think a little bit deeper than what pun I could pull out next.

In her speech, Sonia Nazario talked a great deal about the lives she came into contact with while researching for her book/reliving the journey Enrique took in the book. And it was one of those moments where you just realize just how fortunate you are. She told a story of a mother who essentially abandoned her children to work in America and I was surprised when she admitted to thinking she was a terrible mother, pretty much reading my mind. But then she talked about how her children would cry with hunger pains and they would do things like roll over on their tummies to make them feel less hungry. Stories like these evoke such an emotional response that leave impacts on people like us at USC who are given every opportunity we need to succeed whereas there are others who are barely given the chance to survive. Heartfelt stories like these communicate a point --- effectively.

Sonia also mentioned facts, somewhat haphazardly thrown in the mix but they communicated a point as well. Her statistics, in my opinion, showed the magnitude of the journey as well as the massive number of people who were undergoing the same journey Enrique had as well as Sonia herself. I remember her throwing out numbers that shocked me, whether it was the number of attempts one person made, the number of people atop one train, the number of illegal immigrants that managed to make it, etc. Factual evidence like that really gave the retelling of one story a broader perspective: what one person was going through, thousands upon thousands were too.

Overall, I enjoyed her speech. It was a serious wakeup call. The next time I eat a meal or take the train somewhere, I will undoubtedly be thinking of the hardship some poor underprivileged kids out there underwent just to find their mother who had left out of desperation to feed them. I couldn't imagine anything like that. I get homesick living a few hours away for a few months, let alone years alone! Sonia Nazario undoubtedly made the emotional aspect of immigration real and lasting within my, and I'm sure the rest of the audience's minds.