Pat Nguyen: This is an interview I'm conducting for my Ethnic Studies Class. The first thing I'd like to do is get your permission to tape this interview and use the quotes as part of an Oral History Archives Project for Dr. James Sobredo in my Ethnic Studies class at California State University, Sacramento, and I need your permission to publish this transcript in part or in its entirety. Will you give me this permission?
Carmelita Lopez: Yes, I would be more than happy to help you in your class project.

PN: Let's start at the beginning. Could you please tell me your full name and spell it for me?
CL: My name is Carmelita Santos Lopez.

PN: When were you born and what were your parents' names?
CL: I was born in Balayan, Batangas on March 8, 1965 to Carlos and Lolita Santos.

PN: Where did they get their education?
CL: My father graduated from the University of the Philippines with a BA in accounting, and my mother has a nursing degree.

PN: How did they meet?
CL: They met while attending UP.

PN: Do you have any other brothers or sisters?
CL: I have two younger sisters, Mariel and Linda.

PN: Could you tell me a little bit about the socio-economic background of your parents?
CL: Both my parents came from middle-class families, which is why they were able to attend UP.

PN: Okay, this would be a good time for me to stop and do an equipment test. I want to make sure the tape recorder is working properly. [Pat rewinds the machine to see if it's working properly by checking the sound.] It works great. Let's continue.
CL: Sound great!

PN: Why did your parents decide to immigrate to America?
CL: After graduating from nursing school, my mother decided to complete her internship at the University of Washington.

PN: What happened after they arrived in Washington?
CL: We arrived in the Seattle-International Airport. They called it "Sea-Tac" Airport. I was only 2 years old when my mother left for the States. My father's family took care of me while my mother was in Seattle. After three years, she was able to file for permanent residency status, and she eventually became an American citizen. My father and I arrived in the United States in 1972, under the first preference category of the family reunification provision of the 1965 Immigration Act. We became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1977.