FROM THERE TO HERE
Immigrants come to New York City for a multitude of attractive reasons, but sometimes the driving force is repulsive. For Christina Bien-Aimé, an earthquake in her hometown of Port au Prince, Haiti, was the catalyst to drive her off to the big city.
Christina Bien-Aimé was only sixteen when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit her hometown of Port au Prince. For a month after the initial destruction, she stayed home with her parents and two sisters, doing nothing, fearful, and uncertain what tomorrow would hold. There was constant bad news and no certainty. Christina tells me the destruction was bad enough, but it was really the aftershocks that made life unbearable.
Christina remembers going on a walk with her dad, looking at neighborhood and symbolic buildings like the “white house” of Haiti and her grade school, demolished. Christina remembers her father saying “someone needs to do something about this” and she wanted to be that someone.
This experience is the root of her inspiration to become an architect. Career choice was never really an issue for Christina as her parents were always understanding and supportive of her dreams. They tried to sway her into engineering, but the desire to repair Haiti’s physical state stimulated an interest in construction.
“I had lost close friends. Maybe if the construction were better, then things would have been different. That shouldn’t happen in the future, so I became motivated to make a difference.”
Christina’s parents soon realized that they couldn’t continue living as they were, wondering everyday if the house will be strong enough to hold until tomorrow. They still had to work, the girls needed schooling, and it wasn’t safe; they were lucky enough as it was to have survived.
Christina’s aunt in Jamaica, Queens, offered to take the three girls. After a few months, it seemed the move would be long-term, and their aunt enrolled them in school mid-semester. Christina’s oldest sister didn’t like the English school system, but she was already a senior, so she moved back when her school in Haiti re-opened. Her younger sister was only in fifth grade. Christina entered as a sophomore.
THE TRANSITION
“People thought I was weird because I never spoke. ‘Is she traumatized? Why doesn’t she talk?’ It was because I didn’t know English! I learned by observing, watching how they all interacted.”
Coming to NYC wasn’t a choice, but Christina embraced it, and decided to stay because of all the opportunities available to her that wouldn’t be possible in Haiti, like a good university.
City College appealed to Christina because of its affordability, architecture program, and diversity (almost a small-scale version of the appeals held by the city itself). She loved meeting people from different backgrounds as it was comforting, relatable, and applicable to a universal, multidisciplinary field like architecture. Before attending, Christina admits she didn’t know what architecture really was and what it means to practice it. For all of us, architecture school is a big shock in that way. For Christina, however, the impact was far greater because of the off-campus experiences; venturing out and seeing landscapes so starkly different from her home life instilled an open-minded outlook and made her more accepting of different viewpoints and focuses.
There are those occasional “rude people on subways,” but it’s the others that add to the charm of the city; those who see her sketching and ask about it, then trade life stories, then they are chatting like old friends; people on the transport system hold potential for great grand encounters and making connections. It’s something Christina loves about the city, almost a perfect example of how great of an environment it is for cultivating an architect’s mind.
As for Jamaica queens, Christina doesn’t know it and don’t want to; it’s just a place to sleep. Manhattan has become something of a home for her, especially since studio has such demanding hours (it’s practically a second home for every architecture student!)
Despite accepting this new home, leaving the old one has not been easy. Christina’s parents won’t leave Haiti, but they still work and provide for her and her sisters.
The separation was difficult because I was only fifteen and I feel like I still am sometimes, like time just stopped. In that sense, my mom thinks I'm so young and misses me and wants me to come home. Time flies; holidays are different and I'm turning 20!
THE FUTURE?
Christina felt both intimidated and enlightened about her future after attending a speed mentoring session with current architects. She took advantage and asked them the simple question:
“I want to go back and rebuild but…how?”
What do I want?
Where am I?
What’s the path?
They told her to work through the government, start an organization, branch out, and go to California to study seismic architecture or Florida to research architecture for hurricanes. Christina says that they opened her eyes to future possibilities, but also to make her realize that she has to start planning, networking, and traveling. She is grateful that the city offers the ingredients to cultivate this growth.
Long term goals?
Many of Haiti’s youth leave and travel for educational purposes, but don’t come back to give back, so the country isn’t capable of moving forward, developing, or advancing.
“It’s so poor and corrupted and it stays that way. My generation wants good things for it, but people are afraid to go back.”
There’s no doubt about it; there is a lot of pressure on Christina to succeed and return home. Having always been a good student, there is an expected caliber of work that needs to be upheld, and getting good grades is assumed. For those few who don’t know the stigma, architecture school is grueling; long hours, little sleep, and a mentally demanding and physically exhausting workload. Christina realizes that her mother knows she isn’t sleeping or eating well, and that she worries about her. Christina thinks about it constantly, but she is doing this for a reason, and that is good enough motivation to be strong.
Why am I not sleeping tonight? I want to be an architect. You have to love it to be here. Do you WANT to want it, and I want it really badly.
Christina remarks that she wants to be one of the few that come home after she gets her education and experience. Many emigrants from Haiti get a taste of a very developed world and can’t imagine going back. Christina’s dream of becoming an architect originated because she wanted to be able to come back and repair her home country, and New York is the city that will fulfill the foundation of her dream.
