Pia | Wake County 100

Narrative, Continued:

Pia got a job as a tutor after she moved to Wake County. She has been tutoring now for 15 years. She enjoys helping students who are like her when she was a student having trouble in school. She and her students often form a very special bond. Pia really enjoys seeing the light bulb shine bright in a child’s eye.

Wake County had been a great place for Pia to raise her family. Pia values the museums, parks, and libraries in Wake County. She frequently visits the library to check out recorded books, so she can listen to them in the car. She also appreciates the variety of people that are moving into Wake County from different states and countries. One concern that Pia has about Wake County is that, because of the growing population, the public school systems are trying to fit too many students in at one school, and students are not getting the help they need from teachers. Despite her concerns, Pia enjoys living in Wake County. “I loved Wake County because we moved in a neighborhood that was inside the beltline and close to most anything my little heart could desire.”

Written by: Claire

Pia

Gender: Female

Age: 25-64

Race: White

Nativity: Foreign Born

Educational Attainment:

Graduate or Professional Degree

Occupation: Tutor

Travel Time to Work: Works at Home

Internet Access in Home: Yes

Religion: Christian

City: Raleigh

Narrative:

“Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

Pia was born in Sorrento, Italy. She lived there until she was in ninth grade. At age fourteen, Pia, her parents, and her three brothers, immigrated to the United States. They packed their suitcases and set sail for Durham County, North Carolina. Each passenger on the ship was allowed only one small piece of baggage. Packing up everything you loved into six small bags was very difficult. Doing this was like packing up your heart and carrying it across the ocean without breaking it. It took a very long time to decide what was special enough to bring along the way. Pia’s family was generous and gave their furniture away to people they knew who needed it. As the waves slapped against the bow of the boat Pia wondered how much longer would it be until they reached the mysterious country of America. Back during the 1940’s immigrants could not move unless they had a job at their new home. Pia’s parents worked at a motel until they both got jobs at Duke University. When Pia first attended school in the U.S. it was very hard for her because she did not speak English. During the ninth grade the first black student attended her high school. Now that Pia looks back on it she realizes that as hard as she had it, people who were not white did not have the privileges that her race afforded her. Later, Pia attended Duke University and got her professional degree. In 1971 she and her husband moved to Wake County. They now live in a small, one story house with their unruly, yet lovable dog, Missy.

The Doon School