Tour De Jacob

From reading Jacob’s first poem for the class, my first expectations of the interview were noticeably clear cut from the get-go; this interview would be one about his relationship with his Italian and Jewish heritage. Learning about what he thought of his heritage from the beginning of his life to the present time and even what he thinks his perception of his heritage would be in the future based on his friends and family. When I read Jacob’s poem, lines such as I am from extremely loud / and extremely loving. / From being told I could be anything / and to never abandon family” gave me the confidence to expect an aura of friendliness and kindness from Jacob.  

From the beginning of the interview, I wanted a base, an introduction to who Jacob was, and a brief overview of what his life was like. From the beginning, Jacob’s life was that of what you would see in those happy family TV shows, with a loving family and a group of friends that lasted an exceptionally long time. Many of his behaviors were cultivated by the experiences of his parents and grandparents. For example, he stated that “My good manners like holding the doors for people, being polite, and just being a good person” were things that he was taught by his parents. For me to understand where this sense of wonder for his heritage had originated from I had to discover when he started to question his background. He began to learn about his heritage, or question his heritage, during high school since he was a very in-the-moment kind of person, which is to say that he concerned himself more with his grades and passing his classes than he did discover his heritage. Many methods of him discovering his heritage were either inaccessible due to inconvenience or they lied with his father, who was also an in-the-moment kind of person. This lack of exposure to his Italian roots combined with his American environment has made him eager to know more about what his heritage is about. He expresses this as well when he states that he has not been outside of the United States and into his home countries.  

  What I had found interesting during the interview was the lack of him mentioning his Jewish heritage, so I had to dive into that side of his life. Although he expresses that he is not much of a religious person, he does state that he constantly practices Jewish traditions and celebrates Jewish holidays, which leads to him saying that he is more attached to his Jewish side than his Italian side. This took me by surprise; not only did I discover that he was in a very Jewish household but was also more connected to that heritage than his Italian heritage even though he expressed a huge fondness for Italian culture in his poem and shows little to no interest in his Jewish side. I had made the connection that since he was not too fond of religion that it made him feel more compassionate about his Italian heritage rather than his Jewish heritage. It was then that he finally gave me the straightforward answer I had been looking for. He stated that at the end of his high school career he had finally grown enough interest to find out what his heritage was and “discover what it means to be Italian. Most of the time I was with my parents I had celebrated my Jewish heritage because of religion but I always wanted to know about my other side.”   

  Now that he is a college student majoring in business, he is even more curious as to what his heritage entails, going as far as to attend Italian-speaking classes for his major requirements. Within the future, he hopes to open many doors of opportunity with his business major and start his career or work towards the start of one. Within 10 years, I mentioned the possibility of him ever travelling to his hometown and he seems extremely interested in that idea, even prepared to take in the culture shock and all the drawbacks of going to a new foreign country.  

  At the beginning of the interview, I had my sights set on Jacob’s background with his heritage and his life story so that I could shed some light on his passion for his Italian heritage and I found exactly what I was looking for, along with a lot of information that benefited the understanding of the origins of his wonder. I discovered that the way he was treated as a child reflected the way he would see his parents and, therefore, his heritage. The interview showed me that his past was not as clear-cut and dry as I thought it was going to be. He is still searching for more information on his Italian heritage but hopefully, in the future, he finds the answers he is seeking.