FINAL INTERVIEW

UT is a very competitive and exceeds in academics. Lizbeth Lynch was a student at this University. She moved to Austin, Texas specifically to go to school here. When asked why Lynch wanted to go to school in America, her response was,

"I have been in the States as a tourist a few times and I was impressed with what I saw. In the country, if you work hard you can succeed. You don't need "Connections" you don't need to give bribes. I could see the reason behind the expression: "The American dream" and everyone can achieve it. The U.S. is truly a land of opportunities."

Lynch was born in Chihuahua Mexico to a family of seven, she said that her father,

"didn't want me to leave Mexico." and that her mother,"... felt that it was a good opportunity but only for one  year."

She also said that she had planned to stay in America and not go back home to Mexico.

“I wanted to be in a place where my children would have a better environment to grow and provide for their own children. For that, I needed to cross the border, jut like all the other immigrants who have come to this country through the years. Mexican people are very friendly. Unfortunately the government is corrupt, I am not saying that there’s no corruption in the American government, the difference is that, in this country, corruption can be exposed and people are able to express their discontent without being penalized. I knew that things in Mexico would only get worse. Look at the situation now. The cartels are spreading all over Mexico and the government does very little to protect their citizens. Its very, very sad.”

When she came up with the idea of moving to America to study.

“My parents knew that I had always wanted to move to the States and that’s the reason I studied English in the evenings for several years. They never thought that I would ever have the opportunity to do so, though, primarily due to financial reasons. When I received the scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin they were surprised.”

However, other family members were supportive,

"My sister, Thelma and her husband Beto drove me from Chihuahua all the way here. It was very sweet of them. My sister wanted to make sure that I would be in a safe environment."

When she did leave to go to the states, Lynch stated that she was:

“..both excited and nervous to leave my family behind. Excited because I had always wished to study in the United States, nervous because I have never lived without my family before. I knew that in the States I would be on my own. It was a scary thought.”

When asked if she ever missed her friends or got homesick Lynch replied with a quick,

“No. I was very excited to move to the United States.”

She did say that she missed two of her sisters, Thelma and Lety.

“Both Lety and Thelma called me regularly. Now, remember that this is before cell phones and Internet existed so people paid a price (both time and money) to make a connection. I treasured those calls. I also called my mother once a month.”

Lynch told of her first days at UT, “My first day I spent it in my room getting everything ready for the start of my classes.”

“I still remember my first class. It was Biology. I was not familiar with the UT campus so I was reading the map to locate the building. I opened the door and it was an auditorium. I couldn’t believe the size of the class! Forget about the one-on-one attention I received in Mexico!!”

Overall, Lynch states that she had a great year at UT

“My first year at UT was wonderful. I did get my share of A’s but also did get some B’s which disappointed me, but my English was not good enough to keep up with the material. Also, testing is very different here than in Mexico. I had to get used to “applying the material” rather than just “memorizing.” Overall though, I had a good year.