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Naples, Italy, marks the beginning of my paternal grandmother’s migration journey, driven by economic struggles in the 1960s. Living on a farm, she had no choice but to seek out better opportunities, leading to her and my grandfather relocating to Canada. This movement reflects the concept of in-betweenness, the cultural and emotional liminality experienced by those navigating multiple identities and places without fully belonging to any (Wang, 2023, 78-79). While Naples remained a part of her heritage, migration embodied her desire to excel beyond the limitations of rural life and pursue a future that her hometown could not provide.

The photo of my grandmother’s passport symbolizes more than just physical movement, it also represents the emotional transformation and uncertainty that her migration was rooted in. For me, visiting Naples as a child bridged the gap between my own identity and my family’s roots, something I sometimes still struggle with. It reconnected me to a part of our history I had not and will never live, demonstrating how migration can divide us yet maintain familial bonds across generations. This passport serves as both a personal artifact and a testament to the resilience that shaped my family’s life in Montreal.

Bibliography:

Wang, Ying. Moving Between Cultures Through Arts-Based Inquiry: Re-Membering Identity. 1st ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing AG, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32527-4.

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Similarly, to that of my paternal grandmother, Bari, Italy, marks the beginning of my maternal grandmother’s migration journey, also shaped by economic struggles in the 1960s. Seeking a better life for her future, as she was pregnant with my mother, she left her home and extremely limited education behind, traveling by boat to Canada, while other family members settled in New York, instead. Drawing on Ben Rogaly’s concept of mobility and fixity, her migration reflects more than movement, it reveals how mobility is bound to power dynamics (Rogaly, 2015, 529). Her displacement explains how the pursuit of opportunity can lead to freedom but also to forms of confinement, like navigating unfamiliar cultural and economic systems in a new country.

Though she physically moved across borders, her identity remained tied to Bari, a place that represented both hardship and heritage. When I visited Bari as a child, it rekindled that connection, allowing me to experience the influence of the coastal area she had to leave behind. The photo of the sunset in Bari over the water, symbolizes both her migration and the tensions between movement and immobility. Even though she relocated, she remained emotionally attached to her origins.

Bibliography:

Rogaly, Ben. “Disrupting Migration Stories: Reading Life Histories through the Lens of Mobility and Fixity.” Environment and Planning. D, Society & Space 33, no. 3 (2015): 528–44. https://doi.org/10.1068/d13171p.

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My father, Frank Calandriello, at McGill Law School holding the Moot Bar Trophy. 

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Montreal, Canada, is where my father’s life began, born to a family that had migrated from Naples. Raised in LaSalle, a culturally rich, especially Italian culture, but economically modest neighborhood, he pursued higher education as a means to excel beyond my grandparents. He earned a law degree from McGill University, later moving to the more affluent Westmount area when he met my mother, offering me and my brother a more stable upbringing. This trajectory reflects the intergenerational progress rooted in my family’s migration story, where resilience enabled each generation to achieve new goals.

Drawing again on Rogaly’s concept of mobility and fixity, my father’s story exemplifies how upward mobility does not erase one’s connection to origins but reshapes them (Rogaly, 2015, 531). LaSalle remains integral to his identity, a place tied to both cultural roots and challenges he has overcome. The attached photo, showing my father holding the Moot Bar Trophy at McGill, an object that is extremely representative of his success, symbolizes the ambition that led him to this success. It is a tangible representation of movement across physical spaces and through social strata. For me, Montreal is a cultural mosaic, it is rich in language, cuisine, and traditions. It serves as both a foundation and a future, allowing my father’s identity to flourish and spread across generations, to me and my brother.

Bibliography:

Rogaly, Ben. “Disrupting Migration Stories: Reading Life Histories through the Lens of Mobility and Fixity.” Environment and Planning. D, Society & Space 33, no. 3 (2015): 528–44. https://doi.org/10.1068/d13171p.

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My brother, Justin Calandriello, standing in front of TMU's Creative School, where he pursued his Master's degree. 

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Toronto, Canada, is a significant chapter in my brother's life as he had to transition from Montreal to pursue his master's degree at Toronto Metropolitan University, becoming the first in our family to attain a graduate degree. This move signifies not only personal ambition but also embodies the broader concept of hyper-culture discussed in Kergel's work (Kergel, 2023, 29). Toronto's size and diverse population create an environment where cultures intersect, allowing for the de-localization and de-removal of traditional identities.

The photo of my brother standing in front of The Creative School of TMU in downtown Toronto captures the goal my brother had when moving to the city, a city that embodies people of various culture and can become home to many. This multicultural atmosphere offered my brother a unique educational experience, enhancing his understanding of various perspectives while fostering his original identity. Kergel's work explains how hyper-culture illustrates how urban spaces like Toronto can challenge conventional notions of identity and provide a fertile ground for cultural exchange and diversity. As my brother went through his academic journey, he navigated Toronto’s cultural landscape that shaped his education but also his identity, reflecting the transformative power of education in a globalized city and how his migration from Montreal to Toronto broadened his horizons.

Bibliography:

Kergel, David. Digital Cultures: Postmodern Media Education, Subversive Diversity and Neoliberal Subjectivation. 1st ed. Wiesbaden: Springer Vieweg. in Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-35250-9.