Exploring immigrant experiences

Explore the experiences of immigrants or first-generation Americans. What does it mean to fit in and feel American?

If you’re not an immigrant or first-generation American, find someone who is willing to share about their experiences.

First-generation Americans were born in the U.S. but have parents who were born elsewhere, while immigrants moved to the U.S. from another country. If you or your parents were born in another country, how do you stay connected to more than one culture?

Over the past decade, the percentage of Americans born in another country has been growing. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the nation’s foreign-born population was 46.2 million in 2022 (13.9% of the overall population) – an increase of 15.6% since 2010.

Talk to your friends, family, and people in your community. For inspiration, check out this story about a Cambodian refugee made by a student journalist in Portland, Oregon, or this story about a young immigrant working to become an attorney, made by student journalists in Washington DC.

Fitting in:

• What it’s like to grow up/live between two or more cultures
• What does it mean to fit in and feel American?
• Pressure of expectations and achieving the American Dream
• The effect of negative stereotypes about your culture/heritage/country of origin
• Embracing, rejecting, or feeling disconnected from your family’s culture
• Navigating college applications
• What’s your immigrant community like here, and how do they collectively preserve their culture in the U.S.?

Culture and language:

• Codeswitching
• Going to language lessons, camps, or other activities
• What it’s like to have a more global perspective, compared to peers who may not
• Feelings around knowing or not knowing a second language
• Being a translator for family members who don’t speak English, filling out paperwork, government documents for parents or relatives

Family

• Ways you connect with your culture through food, dance, faith, music, ect.
• Ideas/values from your family’s culture you wish were more prevalent in the U.S.
• What it’s like not feeling represented in all aspects of American life (pop culture, census, government, etc.)
• Getting to travel to other countries and what you learned
• Being far away from family members
• What does living in the diaspora mean to you?
• Strength of intergenerational ties in the U.S. and other countries
• Reasons families move. Where do they move to and why?

This year, instead of submitting fully produced stories, SRL invites students to pitch their story ideas first. Pitches will also be accepted on a rolling basis August 1, 2024 through February 1, 2025.

PRO TIPS BEFORE BEFORE PITCHING YOUR STORY:

• RESEARCH: Spend time doing research, talk to people you’d like to interview, and shape your story idea.
• WATCH: this short video about pitching
• REVIEW: this pitch example before submitting your idea.

SUBMIT YOUR PITCH:

• Submit your pitch using this form. Pitches will also be accepted on a rolling basis August 1, 2024 through February 1, 2025.

SUCCESSFUL PITCHES WILL:

• Show clear evidence of research
• Tell a compelling story
• List specific people you intend to interview

If your pitch is selected, you will work with an SRL Youth Media Producer to further develop your story for publication. If selected, a team member will contact you within three weeks of your submission.

• Profile (2-4 min. long): A profile is the story of one person. It has voiceover (VO), b-roll, pictures, nats (natural sound), it may also include interviews of family members or peers of that one person. Watch this example of a profile about an immigrant studying to become an attorney. Here’s an example of a profile of a musician who works to spread hope, inspiration, and empowerment.
• Explainer (2-4 min. long): A video explaining a concept. Often it includes a host/narrator speaking directly to the camera. The tone could be serious, funny, or informative. Watch this student-produced example of an explainer about how music affects your mood. Here’s another example of an explainer about AI and college admissions.
• News package (3-5 min. long): Video stories about newsworthy issues and topics. A news package has factual information, balanced reporting, research, voice overs, multiple interviews with people sharing different perspectives, soundbites, b-roll footage. It may also include things like infographics, a reporter standup, nats (natural sound from filming b-roll). Watch this example of a news package about a new law in Hawaii requiring schools to provide free menstrual products. Here’s another example of a news package about a program to help provide incarcerated people with access to higher education.
• NAT package (2-4 min. long): A video story guided by the natural sound from interviews and the environment where you’re filming. Natural sound, commonly known as “NAT sound,” puts the viewer in the place the story was told by enhancing the scene(s) with video containing rich audio such as a musician singing at a train station, a storm approaching, or the sound of a tractor plowing the field. This kind of story would often not have a voiceover narration. Here’s an example of a nat package about two Italian immigrants who own a pizza shop.
• Social Media (60 - 90 sec. long): Short video that tells a cohesive story with interview bites, b-roll footage, graphics and/or voice-over, cut vertically for social media. Watch this example of a social media video about two teens in Maryland who started a composting organization. Here’s another social media video about a teen from Ohio who eats bugs.

Homegrown presents: Darwin’s journey

Cambodian refugee’s restaurant provides space to heal and celebrate culture