Success paths of young immigrants in higher education and the professional world.
He came from Morocco. He has studied Psychology, Anthropology and Audiovisual Communication.
The migration process in the case of my family
was started by my father
that at one time considered that Morocco
was not the right place to continue
with his career or his concerns
or aspirations then.
It seems that initially he went to Holland
and could not adjust for a few months
and then there in the town... In Arenys de Munt,
where he finally ended up,
he had a childhood friend
who was from a town nearby
And then he told him "Look, there's work here" and so on
and he moved to Arenys de Munt.
The first relationships were with a neighbor who lived above us,
Salvador, with whom I interacted.
Then I didn't understand him, idiomatically, but we were kids,
so to play, we knew how to play, ball or whatever.
The first relationships were these. Then, when I got in school
I met my schoolmates and so on.
I think the difference was mostly
centered around holiday cycles, somehow,
in that they were parallel. You had to combine
in quotes, the Muslim calendar
with the Catholic or Christian calendar.
So there it was made obvious through the performance
the staging, the lamb festival, for example,
Ramadan, etc., etc., you saw
that this interfered... not interfered, but was...
I don’t know, I remember when I started Ramadan, for example,
of course, it was quite a different thing.
It's like an additional challenge
because we went on a field trip and I I didn't take a sandwich
because I was in the middle of fasting.
In adolescence, whether you like it or not, you start having other concerns,
you start to realize that you come from another culture.
That others also see you as different.
In a way, in some ways, not all.
Or I think also that a lot of times you feel different.
The truth is that yes, I felt so accompanied
If I have to be sincere. I even have fond memories of a teacher...
Well, I have support of many teachers.
As in one point when I had to decide whether to go to high school [post compulsory] or not
for my difficulties in...
Mostly at spelling and writing mistakes.
In that I made a lot of mistakes, and still do.
I had some teacher that said
"geese. Maybe starting post-high school is not in your best interest because..."
"At selectivity [SAT equivalent] they value spelling a lot..."
"It penalizes you..." while others gave you their support.
I remember a teacher, Nieves,
she taught Spanish,
I remember that at Reys [Catalan Christmas tradition], or Christmas,
she was always giving me calligraphy books
So I would exercise... So my calligraphy was readable.
The friends I have now are my lifelong friends.
We know each other since we were 6 or 7.
Then, you keep them. And yes, really, often,
I when I go to Arenys de Munt I spend more time with my friends
than with my family.
It's a very intense relationship.
They were friends... Those were links we were setting out from
proximity. We went to the same school.
We went to the same class.
And we were in the same neighborhood.
You could establish links with some people or others
and you chose or had a give and take relationship, in a way
I think the fact of where I was
was the least important. Perhaps now that I'm older
and possibly in some contexts
I am a minority share or a folkloric quota
I started psychology and the thing is that
at the second year of psychology, I think it was,
I thought, "Why don't I go to history of art, because this is just not..."
"This is not exactly what I expected in some way"
In the end I gave up. I spoke with someone who told me
"Damn, history of art is a little..."
Especially here in Catalonia there is a lot...
I even thought of going to Granada, where I had some friends.
Maybe enroll in history of art and such, but no.
I ended up staying in psychology
Then I became interested by anthropology. At third year
I began my studies in anthropology with psychology simultaneously
I also met... Initially
I interacted with a small group of students
The brightest from the academic point of view.
And slowly I started to open up.
Initially I was reluctant
because I met those who are currently my, say, city friends.
I have town friends and city friends.
I was very reluctant. I saw there was an approach
but I saw them like the typical handsome guys
So posh and just not...
And finally I met them and my own prejudice
was limiting me to not interact with these people
who are now some of my best friends.
I was very interested in psychology, anthropology interested me
but from anthropology to audiovisual communication
there is a break. I saw anthropology was very academic.
I saw it would be a good tool to disseminate
the whole more anthropological issue, in quotes.
Or how to apply anthropology to something more related to dissemination
Or as if... Currently, in the project I am part of
That excites me very much, which is an ethnography
on the homeless in Barcelona
I start from anthropology but with the visual tool.
We are making a documentary based on that.
I was interested in social marketing
and I'm in themes... Studying advertising
I often say, "Look, I stop here"
but I don't have a specific concern on how to develop
my professional career in doing a concrete thing.
I think it's... Right now it's unfeasible.
In an era where everything is changing, globalized
what we must address is needs, and not create them.
One way to address needs, and not create them,
is to be a multifaceted person and say "hey, we are missing this here"
"Here people need this."
But from a particular discipline you are drawing the line on what what they need
and what not, and what society needs.
Where do you work?
I'm in social services
working with homeless people
and now I've started a whole project with Vall d'Hebron [a hospital]
with trans-cultural psychiatry unit
which is also linked to more cross-cultural psychology...
A research... Etc., etc.
I'm in two fields, a social field and a more clinical field.
The gaze of the other
I remember one day when I was accompanying a user
to a homeless care center.
And the professional didn't know me.
Then she said "stand in line." I say "no no, I called you before"
Because they thought I was a homeless person also,
coming to ask for a seat.
Gaze changes depending on the context.
However in a more academic, or giving a talk
for example, I was collaborating with a project that was
some talks, some debates... The gaze is very different.
The context is what determines the gaze.
In some contexts I am the "smart morito" [deriding word for muslims]
and in some others I'm just a "moro" [used as a catch-all for african muslims]
The stigma is present, constant. Going up the subway stairs
you see a 20 years old girl that looks at you...
Automatically, looks at you and moves his bag to the front.
Or a lady on the subway with lots of bags and you try to help her and she look at you...
In broader contexts, the label, or the stigma of...
Your phenotypical traits, so people easily puts a label on you.
My parents have always encouraged and have insisted in that we keep
not only our culture but also the language.
And for me the language is leading to many job opportunities
and it's opening many doors for me. The fact that I'm fluent in Catalan
Spanish, Dariya and Arabic.
The image I had of Morocco
at the time I idealized it.
It also happens that I was very young.
Through anthropology I started to link to my home country,
in quotes, because I ended up doing a dissertation linked
to honor, gender
and the incorporation of women into the labor market in Morocco.
I said "look, now is the time. Let's take advantage of it, save some money"
"and go to Morocco for a few months" to re-connect
with my origins.
And it also, at the same time,
one of the professors of the faculty was carrying a research on Islam
and the diaspora in the European context... And the fact that
I spoke the language and I guess also that because of the line of research
and so on I was offered the opportunity, and I
didn't know many things about my country of origin.
Not only about my country of origin but about religion, culture...
I’ve rediscovered them through anthropology
and through contextualize myself in a research environment and so on.
It was afterwards that I tried to re-establish the link to my country of origin.
Is a game of poker, sometimes
you have bad cards but if you can play them
you can break the bank.
I don't know, as I said, being a Moroccan
if you know how to play and, above all use
can be positive; It's not always negative.
And depends a lot on yourself and how you play these cards.
As my mother says, only death comes suddenly, everything else is manageable.
So you have look on, not the positive side, but make it right somehow,
And see what you get out of this, and how you can use it
or saying "I will not take that path. I don't like that."
Discard anything you do not like is positive because you know you can go for another.
Living the stigma as a good thing.