Sankar Raman

A Rebellion Against Silence

Sindy Avila-Gutierrez looks back undaunted on her life as an undocumented immigrant.  “I’ve always been a rebel in that way,” she says. “You tell me

Zhou Fang

Struggling to Stay in the U.S. of A.

Sometimes persistence pays off–especially when wending one’s way through the morass of the U.S. immigration system.  Zhou Fang learned this lesson first-hand

Karen Weliky

East-West Encounters

The first time Susan Chan saw snow was also the first time she spent a winter in the United States, away from her childhood home in Hong Kong.  

Sankar Raman

Choosing the Road Less Traveled

From the start, Barbie Wu was determined to forge her own path.  Born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1986, she comes from a family of scientists.  

Sankar Raman

A Lifetime of Listening

One of Margaret Stewart Clark’s earliest memories is of sitting, at age two or three,  with her sister, who was blind, as the older girl taught Clark how to

Sankar Raman

Finding Identity in Resilience

Looking back on the many changes in her life, Sara Houranpay likes to quote her father’s advice: “When life throws you down, you get up,  

Brooke Hoyer

Past Passions, New Horizons

For Ningshu Fang, the lessons that her grandmother taught her as a child are an invaluable part of who she has been, and who she has become. “She was a […]

Karen Weliky

Spreading Love Through Coffee

When Hector Mejia Zamora lost his father, he made a bargain with God. “I was only fourteen,” he says, “But I told God that if he gave me my dad […]

Mirifoto

Portland Ukrainians’ Plea

Fighting back tears at a rally she organized a few days after the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tatiana Terdal still managed to draw laughs from the 300

Karen Weliky

A Musician’s Education

As he was relaxing on the beach at sunset, beer in hand, Gerardo Calderon Garcia was startled when a stranger approached. After a short conversation, the stranger

Karen Weliky

Evading Stigmas and Stereotypes

“One day, I looked around, and everyone looked the same,” says Emery Thanathiti, describing her reaction to moving to Hong Kong as a teenager. “But I wanted to

Karen Weliky

Pushing Boundaries Through Music

Raúl Gómez Rojas spent his youth learning the violin. Almost every day, he practiced the instrument in his hometown in Costa Rica. Then, at age 24, he found himself

Sankar Raman

Embracing and exploring identity

When Qasim Syed arrived in the United States in 2001, he didn’t realize that a simple decision to reorder his name would one day define his immigrant experience.

Ricki Mudd

A Daughter of Two Countries

Ricki Mudd is a young girl sitting on the back of a bicycle–in front of her, an unidentified man pedals; above her, an umbrella shields them from the rain. The […]

Karen Weliky

Becoming and Never Looking Back

“I always knew I was a hands-on person. I liked taking things apart and putting them back together,” says Fiaindratovo Manavihare, explaining