Interviewer: Nelbalyz Reyes 
Interviewee: Isabel Acevedo 
Relationship: Mentor 
Date: October 27, 2002 

Isabel Acevedo left her home island Puerto Rico during her adolescence searching for a better education in the US she found herself going to Georgetown University and Cornell Law and fulfilling her dreams of becoming a lawyer.

What is your full name?

Isabel Christina Acevedo Guardiola

What is your nationality?

My nationality is Puerto Rican.

What is your date of birth?

January 8, 1972

Where were you born?

I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

When did you move to Philadelphia?

I moved to Philadelphia on January of 1999.

Why did you move to the mainland?

I moved to the U.S. when I came to college, I came to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. That was in 1990.

Why did you leave your former place of residence?

After I graduated from Georgetown in Washington D.C. I went to law school at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and then, after I graduated from Law School, I came to Philadelphia.

What did you like or dislike about your home?

What I like about Puerto Rico is that everyone always seems to be happy. I also like that we have the sun 365 days a year. It's very sunny and very warm, and I miss that very much.

What did you dislike?

It was hard getting a job there, especially if you were a lawyer, which I am, because there are too many lawyers, so that's why I decided to come to Philly plus the particular type of law that I wanted to practice is very hard to practice in Puerto Rico.

Why did you choose Philadelphia?

The reason I chose Philadelphia was because when I was in law school I did the Legal Aid Clinic and I liked being able to help others and doing public interest law and in Puerto Rico there is not many opportunities to do public interest law and my cousin already lived here. Her mother-in-law is a lawyer and she worked in public interest and she told me, "If you are interested in public interest you should come to Philadelphia because we have a big public interest law community." So that's how I ended up here.

How did you travel here?

Airplane. There is no other way to get here from P.R.

How did you find a place to live in Philly?

When I first moved here I lived with my cousin and she lives at Swarthmore and I lived at her house. Then after I took the bar and got a job here, I got a place of my own.

Who did you travel with to get here?

I came by myself.

What is one thing that you remember the most about your home?

I remember my family and the beaches.

How your life change when you moved and what did were the differences between the two places?

As I said before, Puerto Rico is very warm and it's sunny all year round even in the winter. It gets a little cool but never as cold as here. Here we have the change of seasons which is very pretty, but because I lived in upstate New York we got a lot of snow and I don't really like snow so I don't enjoy very much when winter rolls around.

What did you expect about the US or Philly?

To tell you the truth, if we are just talking about US not anywhere in particular, I remember I was very shocked at upstate New York because you always hear about New York and you think about the city, and I wasn't in the city I was in upstate New York - in Ithaca - which is a very small town. I was very shocked at how incredibly backward it seemed compared to, maybe Philly, Washington D.C., even Puerto Rico which is more advanced than Ithaca in many ways. So I was very shocked to find that places like that still existed here. There where hardly any malls and there was a lot of farmland and nothing much to do.

What did you come here to accomplish and what else do you still feel like you have to do?

I came here for school and later on I stayed here because of work. I guess what I want to accomplish is to be able to help other Latinos be able to do what I have been fortunate enough to have done. To be able to go to school, become a professional, and help other people.

What are the differences from when you came here and now?

From the time I came here to Philly to now I think that the city has changed in that people seem a little bit more on edge especially after 9/11, I think that people used to be a little bit more carefree and now people are more on the edge because Philly is between New York and Washington where the terrorist attacks took place. I think that in that respect the people and the city has changed. There is a lot more security and it seems as if people are more eager to go home now than they use to be. They want to be with their families.

What did you sacrifice or leave behind when you left?

I left my family; my brother my mom and my dad still live there. Now, instead of seeing them everyday like I use to, I now basically depend on phone calls and the occasional vacation that I get from work. And, of course, I've sacrificed the sunshine. It might not make a difference to all of you but it does to me.

What problems did you encounter coming to US?

The one problem I had was that when I was in Puerto Rico I had my whole family there so I had more people to rely on if something happened. I also knew my way around. It was easier to get around but here I had to start from scratch I didn't know anybody except for my cousin and she didn't know that much herself. She was a good help but there was a limit on the stuff that she could do. I didn't have a car so it was hard to get around; I had to depend on public transportation or other people to drive me around places to get things.

How much money did you have and where did you get it from when you came to the US?

I have no idea the amount of money I had - I didn't have that much. When I first came to the US I came for college. I had a work-study job and I earned money that way. My mom, whenever she could, she would send me something but she couldn't always do that. When I first moved to Philly, because I had to wait to take the Bar exam before I could start work, my mom and my dad both helped me out. I've been very fortunate in that my parents have been able to help me. How did you adapt to your new environment

I'm very adaptable. I'm kind of nomadic. I don't mind moving from place to place. It didn't take me long to get used to the whole Philly routine, I'm very adaptable in that respect.

Do you think it was worth all your changes?

Yes, I got to meet new friends, good people, I got to meet you (interviewer). Had I stayed in Puerto Rico I would have never met you. I think it has been very good.

What education did you have before you arrived?

I came to the United States when I got into college and I got a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. I studied International Relations and then after I graduated from Georgetown I went to Cornell Law School and I got a Jurisdoctor and I'm now a lawyer. When I came from Puerto Rico I had just come out of high school.

Do you ever regret moving? Why or why not?

No, because I've had good experiences here, I've learned a lot here. The only thing I regret, of course, is that I'm away from my family and from Puerto Rico which I love very much.

What reason could make you go back from where you came from?

One reason would be my family and another if I got a great job offer, hopefully, with the federal government in Puerto Rico. If I got an opportunity like that I would definitely go back.

Describe your first job here. If you didn't have one how did you get the money?

Actually, my first job here was as a volunteer so I didn't get paid. It was at the Pennsylvania Health Club Project. It's an agency that helps people that are medical assistants as I said before I was working there and studying for the Bar. After I passed the Bar I got a job with the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent program which is a non-profit organization that finds volunteer lawyers for low income clients. So that was my first job here.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

One of the good things about coming to Philadelphia is, of course, like I said, that I got to meet you, and I got to volunteer for the Philadelphia Futures Program were I met you at the office with your mom and your sisters. If I had stayed in Puerto Rico I wouldn't have been able to become a mentor for Philadelphia Futures and meet you and help you out, and help you grow as a student and as a person, and a very good one at that. I think that this has been the most special thing that has happened to me while being in Philadelphia, and I'll never forget that. I've met some good and interesting people here.