Interview With Egline Cherono

First I interviewed my mother: Egline Cherono. She was born in Pemwai, Kenya, but currently lives in Georgia. Her favorite childhood memory was having plenty of time (between an 1 to 2 hours) for recess as a child, which is different from America because children have recess from elementary school to high school. She got to play many different games with her friends such as skip and jump (hop-scotch) and jump rope in elementary school. In high school she participated in volleyball and cross-country in Eldoret up to proficient level (which is similar to national competitions in the United States; she remembered coming home after with her team singing so loud the bus ride home, that the students at the school could hear them coming home from
Her favorite childhood memory as a child was climbing up a small mountain with our grandfather, on his back, when she was five then eating avocados and passion fruit when they reached the summit they talked and looked out at the scenery. The advice she remembers most from our parents is “Reach for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars. She described her educational life as “AWESOME!” since she goes to UGA with a double major in microbiology and molecular biological chemistry and a minor in public health; she is part of Engineers Without Borders, Impact, Global Awareness club, and WIT (“Whatever It Takes” which reaches out to refugee children). She plans to graduate in May with her undergraduate’s degree and plans to go to medical school. Her first job was at a IT help desk, but her favorite job is what she does currently: research at Complex Carbohydrates Center at UGA. Her hobbies include: playing the guitar, piano, and violin, volleyball, soccer, volunteering, and hanging out with her friends. Her life goal is to create an establishment that helps women’s health (a clinic to empower women in developing areas). The people who impacted her the most was our parents since they had so much endurance and willingness to put education above everything. Moving to America from Kenya was especially difficult for my sister since she was six at the time, ESL was extremely demeaning, and had to learn the culture through TV and the few friends she had; it was also difficult since she and my older brother would often have to switch schools and leave behind their friends. Her ideology is the Five Constructs: faith, family health, education, and social life. Although she would change nothing about her life, Jennifer’s advice to others is to “Heed your parent’s advice, but also do what makes you happy in accordance to the Five