De’Shaun Andrea-Booker
Website and Film Editor
“Working with and learning about Paulina’s story has been delightful! I chose to take this course to learn how to conduct an ethical interview to help showcase the voices of immigrants who live in and provide to the communities around us. My Nana, who is an immigrant from South Korea, has kept her story hidden due to the fact of it being a sensitive topic and no one knowing how to approach the conversation. After taking this course, I have learned how to create a safe space and ask ethical questions.”
Abi Aguilera
Communicator, Translator & Interviewer
“Paulina’s story is a prime example of the American dream and the struggle that goes with it along the way. I hope her story touches people the way it did me and my team. She’s truly an incredible and kindhearted person. Being someone who’s had family immigrate from Latin America, working with Paulina felt familiar. As Paulina has said, her story is real; it really happened to her and needs to be told.”
Yasmin Gutierrez-Castro
Website and Film Editor; Translator
“I took interest in this course because we were able to directly work with immigrants within the Twin Cities. This project has been meaningful because it allowed me to not only gain experience in interviewing, but also be able to learn more about Paulina’s story.”
Miya Whiteley
Interviewer, Film and Website Editor
“I took this class because of the connections we would make to immigrant communities in the Twin Cities. I wanted to learn more about the complex histories of immigration and share what I learned through documentary making.”
Georgia LeWin-Mills
Film and Website Editor
“I decided to take this course in hopes of getting outside of the classroom and connecting with the greater Twin Cities area. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to connect with Zainab over the course of this project and put together her story.”
Anna Moan
Interviewer, Film and Website Editor
“I was excited to be involved in this project and have the opportunity to connect with immigrant communities across the Twin Cities whose stories might not otherwise be told.”
Gaby Carrillo-Quiñones
Film and Website Editor
Gabriela Carrillo-Quiñones (Gaby) is a first-year student at Macalester College from the East Side of St. Paul, studying Psychology and Spanish. She is a Posse Scholar, on the soccer team, and will be serving as the Executive Board Assistant for BIPOCA this coming year. For this project she interviewed her father, Rogelio Carrillo, an immigrant from Durango, Mexico. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and is excitedly awaiting her reunion with her dog, Jet, and her cat, Cloe.
Hannah Fasi
Interviewer, Film and Website Editor
Hannah Fasi is a first-year student at Macalester College from Honolulu, Hawai‘i who majors in Media and Cultural Studies. She plays on the water polo team and will serve on the BIPOCA, Hawai‘i Club, and Japanese Culture Club boards this coming year. Hannah is a third-generation, Japanese-Sicilian resident of Hawai‘i with four brothers. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, watching movies with her friends and family, and taking/appreciating photography.
Isaiah Jimenez
Interviewer, Website Editor
Isaiah Jimenez is a junior at Macalester College from New Jersey, studying Psychology and American Studies. He is the treasurer for the QuestBridge Student Chapter, newly elected co-chair of the Filipino Association at Macalester (FAM), and serves as an emcee for student-led Asian organization events. Isaiah also enjoys attending concerts, thrifting clothes, and going to karaoke with his friends and family.
“This project revealed a range of cultures and experiences between so many different people coming to the States, finding the strength and perseverance to achieve their own personal American Dream. Their stories are filled with both everlasting hopes and inequitable barriers that shouldn’t go untold.”
Adi Nhouyvanisvong
Film and Website Editor
Adi Nhouyvanisvong is a student at Macalester College, a part of the class of 2027. She is a part of the Women’s Soccer Team at Macalester. She is a potential Psychology or Neuroscience major. She decided to take this course because her parents are immigrants and as a child loved learning about their stories of nights in immigration camps and their earliest memories of being in their new country.
Maahir Lakhani
Interviewer, Website Editor
Maahir Lakhani is a sophomore at Macalester college from the class of 2026. He is a Linguistics and Classical Languages double major, with a specific focus in Arabic. Additionally, he is a second generation immigrant, with grandparents from India and Pakistan. It is this familial connection, as well as an interest in world languages which spurred him to take this course.