Alex

Tell me when did you got here.
I think my dad had immigrated here in the 80s and so then by the time the 90s came around he was ready for our family to immigrate to be with him and so he was living in New Jersey at the time so he decided to have us come in, my mom and my brother and my sister to come visit.. come live here and in the U.S in New Jersey.

Why did you choose the U.S.?
Well then obviously my parents cause I have nothing to do with this, they kinda brought me here, so that my parents decided to stay here in the state. They they stay here ever since.

Do you call U.S your home?
Well I mean you know when I came to the United State I was of nine years old and so I pretty much I am now 39 years old so I have very much live the majority of my life here.

Do you have problem speaking up English?
All my education was American I speak English perfectly fluent. so when I went to college I wanted to be a journalist and so most of the time my first job were in the sort of journalism field so I was a copy editor of magazine in New York, I was a writer for a magazine for a couple of years.

How do you like your job as journalist and lawyer?
That was fun, I got to interview some major Hispanic or Latino celebrities, it is just really really cool, Don Francisco is one of the big one that I got to interview, Jorge Ramos one of the news cast as well , I remember as a funny experience. But then I decided I don't like journalism, so I came to live to Minnesota and my parents moved here. I decided to go to the law school.

I currently I love what I do I love coming to work every day. I am self-employed so I have my own office here in Minneapolis. I have two employees, so I really enjoy it now. I love the clients, I love the kind of work the work I do, I do feel really proud when I I I get a good result for a for a client and even when I don't, I feel if you give your full effort and your best whatever the outcome is, you walk away feeling like I did the best.

So I think that that can help you deal with some of the stressful situations that you came across obviously being a lawyer and being specifically in the field of family law where you deal with a lot of drama and heartbreak and people emotion.

I currently I love what I do I love coming to work every day. I am self-employed so I have my own office here in Minneapolis. I have two employees, so I really enjoy it now. I love the clients, I love the kind of work the work I do, I do feel really proud when I I I get a good result for a for a client and even when I dont, I feel if you give your full effort and your best whatever the outcome is, you walk away feeling like I did the best. So I think that that can help you deal with some of the stressful situations that you came across obviously being a lawyer and being specifically in the field of family law where you deal with a lot of drama and heartbreak and people emotion.

I say love it now but at the beginning when I started my law career, I really thought I got in to the wrong profession because I did not know how to handle peoples emotions and all the expectations that people have of you as a lawyer and and when you're young and they see that you did not have the experience and don't trust you so that was difficult and so many years I did not like being a lawyer, it was only until maybe last three or four years but I actually love it but for many years I struggle to find my place in in my career.

How do you deal with your feeling when you have clients with difficult times in life?
I had a lot of empathy, I wanted to save the kind I wanted the best outcome and I always took it to heart when I didn't get the best outcome and I I got too emotionally involved and I think if you do that you burn out because you are constantly giving your motion In your job and then will be letting that get in the way of what you're supposed to do which is to be logical and being with reason and objectivity rather than emotional when I tell you I love what I do a lot of it has to do with me being objective not letting the emotions get in the way of what I need to do as attorney. Now even though I do have some sympathy, obviously I am a human right? I still have sympathy to my client, but I don't let that get in the way. I have figured out to make that distinction between who I am as a person that feels loved and who I am as a professional another professional lawyer doesn't feel loved but when you're doing your job you're not that's not what you're getting paid for you getting paid to be logical and to make decisions based on reason research rather than the heart.

How do you love your new journey in the U.S?
I love I love my life right now I really am very fortunate and very happy to be here in the state of Minnesota doing what I do I don't know that if we have remain in Mexico that I was at would have had the same opportunities so I think yes I do like it here I think there's a lot of room for improvement and how things work but I think as it get older there's a lot of things in the world everywhere that needs improvement I think. Nothing is perfect so I like it as it is now but it should be improvement as we all know.

Do you consider yourself an American?
Yes I will said definitive yes I'm not a patriot wave waving American in the will. But I am American citizen now I am married to an American person who very much grew up in the American culture and experience and I have been here now for over 30 years right so I do feel that this is home because this is the country that I have known in the most in the majority of my life. If I go back to Mexico where I'm from I don't feel like I have all my family still but my parents are here my sister and my brothers are here, extended families in Mexico whenever I go home I feel Or to Mexico I feel like I am a visitor I am tourist I am no longer necessarily feel that is my home although I am technical still a citizen but I dont feel like home to me.

Would you make the same choice if you are giving a second chance?
Yes 100% I mean I didn't make the choice my parents made the choice for me but I think if I were in the position I would make the same choice I think it's really brave for people to immigrate. I think it's tremendous act of courage to be able to pick up your life and then say well now this is gonna be my life and you don't speak the language you don't look like the people that live there and you were treated differently that's that's that's really rough but if you are willing to go through it for the sake of your life I will do it for sure.