Jim's Short Biography

The following is a report my older daughter Megan put together for her fourth grade class in school. The topic was interviewing someone who was an immigrant to the United States and finding out about their initial experiences here.

My dad left his country to come to school here in the U.S., starting in the 5th grade. When he came, he was very scared and a little excited. He left everything he had behind because he knew he would be going back to Barbados in the summer. My dad’s brother and sister went to different schools, also in the United States, but everybody else was left in Barbados.

The trip itself was not very special to my dad because he had been here before on vacation. He also had come here to take tests for his new school so he could go there, and he and his sister took a train to her new school, so my dad knew what to expect and the plane ride was just another plane ride. My dad arrived at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida. When he got there, he wondered where they would be staying. For the first month, they stayed in a condominium, and then later moved to an apartment.

The hardest thing he had to face was being alone. A family my dad and grandfather made friends with, named the Chancy’s, made the adjustment easier for my dad. They made my dad and grandfather feel welcome and later on, after my grandfather went back to Barbados, my dad would wait at the Chancy’s house for the school bus in the morning and in the afternoon, after school, my dad would have a snack there. My dad’s first American friend was Dottie Chancy, the daughter of the family.

A problem my dad had was that some of the words he said were different here in America and he had to adjust to them. He was also laughed at because of his accent.

Up to the time my dad came here, his education was very good, so he adapted to American school work easily. My dad’s first job was baby-sitting but then, later on, he had a dishwasher job at a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he did get paid!

His favorite American foods were Burger King Whoppers and french fries.

What my dad misses most about Barbados is swimming in the Caribbean Sea and surfing in the Atlantic Ocean. Since Barbados is a tourist destination, there is a lot of American culture, but my dad still eats spicy food and goes barefoot as often as he can.

My dad got his US citizenship years ago while he in the US Air Force. When he was interviewed for his citizenship, one question was: if you were a U.S. citizen, would you be willing to serve in the Armed Forces. Since he already was in the Air Force, and the interviewer knew this, my dad thought it was a silly question.