Brief Description of Methodological Issues - Essay Example

Brief of Methodological Issues The Story For this report, I interviewed a family friend, Larry Chan about his experiences emigrating fromHong Kong to Canada at an early age. He was the youngest of seven children, six sons and one daughter. His older brothers matured quickly as they were forced to help out at their family-owned restaurant early in their life and were not provided a high level of education. As the youngest son, the older brothers looked after him and he did not have to experience the similar hardships that they went through. Having saved enough money throughout the years, Larry’s parents wanted to provide a better environment and education for him to mature in. So as a young teenager at age 15, he immigrated to Canada by himself and boarded with a Caucasian family in London, Ontario in order to attend high school. The culture shock was a lot to handle for him as a young teenager who was used to growing up with familiar faces in a familiar environment. Gone are the busy streets of Hong Kong, now replaced by kilometers of farmland owned by the family without a person in near sight. He barely spoke a word of English and could only understand the simple terms such as “Hi” or “Bye”. He didn’t know how to adapt to his new environment and felt homesick and longed for his home in Hong Kong. Long distance calling was not as common in those days, so the usual form of communication would be to write letters to his family. In time, he began to assimilate to the environments around him with the help of the teenage children in the family he was staying with. Like his brothers in Hong Kong, they took him under their wings as one of their own brothers. They showed him the games they played, taught him English phrases, and shared jokes together. This acceptance allowed him to confront the loneliness he often felt in this new country. As he quickly picked up the language, he began to open up himself more and shed the shyness that overcame him since his arrival. Determined to make something of himself and to provide a better life for his family back home; he had to work harder than his classmates because English was not his first language. This helped him tremendously as he began his studies at York University for Computer Engineering. He was intelligent and passionate about computers which allowed him to excel in his courses. He made new friends during his time at York, some who shared his background as a foreign student as well. He was thriving in Toronto but still, a part of him was still longing to go home and visit his family who he had not seen since he left. This feeling was about to change however, not because he did not want to go home, but because he now had a reason to stay and make Toronto his home. In his third year of university, Larry was introduced to Michelle through mutual friends. From the first time they met, there was an instant connection and a lifelong bond was formed. Soon after, Larry was reunited with his family again, when they arrived on his wedding day in Toronto. Upon graduating, he faced adversity as he looked for a job. This proved harder than he realized with the stiff competition in the computing field. With a new family to provide for and faced with unemployment, he struggled. To make ends meet, he took a job delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut. This was not what he expected and it took its toll on him mentally. However, he persevered and continued to look for other opportunities. His perseverance was rewarded when he landed a secure job as a computer engineer for Canada Life Insurance. With a desire to learn new skills, he took courses and obtained his Real Estate license during his time at Canada Life. This was just something he pursued in his spare time as a hobby more than a profession. However, Larry soon had a young son enter his life. He thought of his own childhood and the longings he had to see his busy and distant family and vowed to make himself readily available as a father to his son. As his son grew older, he made the decision to leave his secure job at Canada Life to pursue a career as a Real Estate agent with limited experience. His reasoning behind this decision was because being self-employed allowed him the flexibility to drive his son to school, eat lunch with him on his off-days and be a strong presence in his life, something Larry wished for himself during his childhood. The following years proved to be difficult as he learned the nuances of the business. Sales were slow and the family struggled financially as a result of the commission-based nature of agents. Sometimes, he would catch himself doubting his decision but the time he spent with his young family was well worth it in his opinion. He continued to hone his skills and as he built up his reputation and network, his business began to increase. Clients would refer him to others because of the integrity and hard work he would display. Two of his brothers moved to Toronto as well in the next few years providing a strong family support group. Eventually, his parents immigrated as well allowing him to be close to his family for the first time since his childhood. Through his experiences in Canada, he was able to help his family adapt to the lifestyle and care for them during the early stages of their assimilation process. Years after he first came to Canada, he was living out his dream with his family around him in Toronto. It was easy to give up through the tough times, but due to his preservation and dedication, he was able to prosper through adversity. Analysis/Interpretation In his life, Larry was faced with a great deal of challenges that don’t normally occur to the average individual. As a young child, sheltered and protected by a close and loving family, he was sent into the world alone and unaware. He undoubtedly faced a great deal of difficulty upon his arrival in Canada as a result not only of his ethnicity, but also because of his inability to speak English, the dominant language of that area of Canada in which he was staying. This wrenching shift from the love and security of his family would instill in Larry a lifelong desire to find a new group in which to belong. It wasn’t until he was finally able to feel himself a part of a large family again that he truly began to feel confident in his own success as an individual. It is important to notice that Larry doesn’t define success in the same way that most people in the Western world would define it, or even in the way that most people coming from Hong Kong, seeking a new way of life and success, would tend to view it. This was not inherent knowledge to Larry but was instead developed out of his earlier experiences. As a child, he knew what it was like to be poor as his older brothers were forced to leave school and go to work to help support the family. While this experience stigmatized him enough to realize that he did not want to be poor as an adult and wanted to provide a better life for himself and whatever family he gained, this reaction was tempered by later experiences that taught him what it was like to be alone and convinced him that money was not the sole means of measuring happiness or success. Larry’s experiences as a young teenager, coming as they did during a time in the life cycle when bonding with one’s peer group is an important element of the developing personality, left him feeling alone and deprived of the most basic of human comforts. Although the family he was staying with was supportive and loving, they were incapable of communicating with him in his own language, were unaware of his childhood experiences and could only work to help him assimilate into the Canadian culture. He had no choice but to adapt to their way of life, giving up his own customs and traditions in favor of those practiced by his host family while his only contact with his birth culture was through the very impersonal and slow-arriving form of the written letter. While he was very interested in the field of computers, he admits that part of this interest might have been fostered by the society in which he found himself. As a member of a minority race generally considered intelligent and technologically-inclined, Larry acknowledges that he was often encouraged in the areas of math and science and was generally expected to go far in school. His decision to enter the computer field was not based upon career availability as evidenced in his difficulty in finding a job following his graduation or upon a particular passion for the position, as is demonstrated in his willing abandonment of his good job in the computer industry for the less secure and potentially far less lucrative risk of entering the real estate field, a field he wasn’t altogether familiar with. Larry’s decision to marry Michelle was based upon an instant attraction between the two people that may have been the fabled ‘love at first site,’ but may also have been partially the result of Larry’s deep loneliness and need to find someone to cling to. It is noticed how geographical distances forced traditional courtship processes, such as the parents meeting the prospective bride prior to the wedding date, to go unobserved as Larry’s parents weren’t able to meet Michelle until they arrived in Canada for the wedding ceremony itself. The couple is happy and supportive of each other, as shown in their ability to remain together even through the rough times when the best job Larry could get was as a Pizza Hut delivery driver. This was undoubtedly a further blow to Larry’s self-esteem in that it positioned him within a low social class despite his advanced education and abilities. The idea that the marriage was founded on true sentiment is also seen in Michelle’s support of Larry’s decision to attempt the real estate business after the birth of their son. This would have been a time of significant stress and concern as the support of a child can be difficult on a delivery driver’s wages should the venture not succeed, yet Larry had already proven his willingness to work hard in order to provide his family with their needs. It also demonstrates the extreme importance Larry placed on the togetherness of the family even over and above the need for financial success. Larry’s decision to pursue a career in real estate was founded upon his earlier experiences as a young boy attempting to fit into a culture where nothing was shared. This was necessary in order to provide him with the opportunities that would bring him happiness in later life, but nevertheless had a significant effect upon the way in which he developed. His loneliness from his family made it nearly unbearable for him to think of a life in which he was not able to spend time with his son, forcing his son to grow up in the same sort of fatherless environment in which he’d spent his teenage years. While his success in the computer field would ensure that his son would not need to be sent away for schooling or as a means of providing him with a chance to live a better life, Larry’s focus remained fixed on his attempt to reconvene a sense of family he’d lost as a young man. This is particularly telling in his mention of the importance of eating lunches with his son at school, something many parents do not take the time to do even when the time is available. Larry’s deep-seated need to succeed financially for his family in Canada as well as for his family in Hong Kong manifested itself in a willingness to work hard and maintain a high ethical standard in his business. While he didn’t have the same kind of experience as many other real estate agents, he was often recommended as a result of these traits. Because of this, he was able to succeed financially even as he remained focused upon his first priority, spending quality time with his son. His close connection to his family also enabled him to send money home to them which eventually made it possible for two brothers and his parents to join him in Canada, finally giving him the sense of a large family he’d thought he’d lost forever when he was 15. While he is now successful both financially and spiritually, Larry’s early experiences served to shape the way in which he would view the world around him and helped him to organize his priorities in life. Read More