An immigrant’s advice: “If you come to New York, please have a purpose”
Written by Lilly Maier
Jahaida Hernández Jesurum left her hometown, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, in her early twenties. After a short detour in Spain, she immigrated to New York in 2007, becoming part of the largest foreign-born group in the city. Dominicans make up 12 percent of all immigrant New Yorkers, relegating Mexicans (the country’s biggest immigrant group) to third place, according to an official report by the city.
After years of working odd jobs and struggling through American bureaucracy, Jesurum now calls the Big Apple home. The 31-year-old Latina with self-described “crazy curly hair” works as a freelance interpreter and is thinking about going back to college for a master’s degree. In her free time, Jesurum volunteers for New Women New Yorkers, where she gives women immigrants the help she wishes she had received when she first came here.
On immigrating to New York
“I am not your typical immigrant. I actually came here because of a boyfriend. We met in the Dominican Republic, then we went to Spain. That didn’t work out; 2007 was the recession in Europe, it hit everywhere. At the time we were looking to get more opportunities, and we held better chances coming to New York. We were very naive, I guess, in our decisions at the time. It was supposed to be temporary, but one thing led to another. It just happened. Then we broke up, and I stayed.”
On working in New York
“When I came here, I waitressed for so many years. Then I was able to get a job as a bookkeeper, which I had never done in my life. I learned it and I spent a few years there, and then I decided to become an interpreter again here, and I have been an interpreter since. I also try to write. I actually took some courses at NYU, and I have done a little work here and there. But it has been a challenge.”
On volunteering for New Women New Yorkers
“I was looking to volunteer anywhere, and I found NWNY on LinkedIn. I think it was fate. Volunteering with these ladies has brought a new purpose to my life, because it has brought awareness. I keep telling this, and it’s a cliché by now, but I wish I could have found an organization like this when I first got here. And I am so glad to be a part of it now, to be part of something so much bigger.”
On her initial struggles as an immigrant
“I needed so much guidance, and so did the people surrounding me: where to go for paperwork, for work, for education, your rights as an immigrant, and as an undocumented immigrant, because I was not documented at the beginning. And then it’s so many things now that I feel I lost, because I was not informed. Because I did not believe these things were available for me.”
On feeling (no) regret about immigrating
“At the beginning it was hard. I remember going home [to Santo Domingo] two or three times. At this point of my life, I would not do it again. I would [rather] stay anywhere where I am legal and don’t have to struggle. I think the fact that I was so naive made me go through all of this and made me get strength from it. It’s third-world versus first-world, of course. But the older I get, the more I appreciate the quality of life [that I had there]. It’s hard to be constantly responsible for yourself. I don’t regret it; if I had stayed home, I would have never been a quarter of the person that I am today. But if you ask me, with what I know now, then no, I wouldn’t do it again.”
On the differences between the US and the Dominican Republic
“Obviously it’s the Caribbean and this is the North Pole. I miss the holidays, I miss the spirit out there. I read somewhere that loving New York is like an abusive relationship — and it is, because you hate it, and you hate how high the rent is, but I still wouldn’t wanna leave it, you know? But in a lot of ways I still feel that I don’t have a place here. I have made friendships, I can call this place my home, but I still haven’t found my place. But I think that’s what makes New York New York.”
Advice for future immigrants
“Choose quality of life over the unknown sometimes. And if you are already here, own up to it. Be responsible, be independent; but seek help. You might feel at times that you are all alone; you are not. New York is a city of individuality, but at the same time of an underlying togetherness. And if you come to New York, please have a purpose. This is a purpose city. If you don’t have a purpose here, you will be swiped away. I wish, at the beginning, that my purpose had been more clear. I think I would have advanced so much more. I was so lost at the beginning. I wasn’t even lost to be honest, I was just naïve, because I wasn’t even aware of my lost-ness. And then I thought, wait, I am wasting my time. I am in the greatest city; I have all these talents — why am I not pursuing what I really want to do. So that is where I find myself right now.”
Lilly Maier is a freelance journalist who has worked in the US as well as in Europe. Currently, she is a Fulbright grantee studying Magazine Journalism at NYU’s Arthur L. Cater Journalism School. To learn more about Lilly, visit her website at lillymaier.wordpress.com or follow @lillymmaier on Twitter.
