L'Italo-Americano

16 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014 The strength of an Italian Amer ican woman: Margher ita Palumbo Underhill SILVIA SIMONETTI How hard it must be to leave the homeland as a child and be left all alone to settle in a new country, learning a foreign language and starting a completely different life with no family connections or support? Many people would probably feel overwhelmed, and give up because of the fear of failure. On the contrary, young Margherita Palumbo – now Margherita Palumbo Underhill – didn't get discouraged. She graduated from Law School despite being a woman and an immigrant, raised seven kids working full time, and today finds the time and energy to serve the community as Attorney at Law and Public Relation Chair of the Italian American Lawyers Association. "That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger", and Nietzsche's words seem to be particularly appropriate to describe her intense life experience. Born in the beautiful town of Sorrento, close to Naples, Margherita was named after her grandmother – the Italian meaning of the name being "daisy" -, according to a long-time tradition of Southern Italy. After the war, following her father's business, the family moved to the U.S.A. for a few years. At that time Margherita was 12 years old and, although she couldn't speak English, she was very good at school. Her parents placed a high value on education, since they couldn't have one because of the war, and considered the chance to enroll in an you are young you just do it. You keep thinking that you will go back for good one day, but then you never do. " This can be identified as the immigrants' experience, no matter where they come from. For Margherita Underhill with former Chief Justice Carlos Moreno American college as an extraordinary opportunity for their daughter, a girl from Southern Italy. Margherita was accepted at UCLA, and when her family returned to Italy she remained all alone in Los Angeles. "It was heartbreaking to choose between my old life, my home, my native language, and the chance of a lifetime to receive a higher education", she recalls. "But when one reason or the other, they never return to their country of origin, and sometimes they spend their whole life apart from their family in the name of work or education. Margherita graduated from the UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, traditionally a patriarchal profession, and a Minor in International Relations and Foreign Languages. She studied Spanish, French, German, and also Italian, as she could only speak the Neapolitan dialect at the time she left the Country. "I am very grateful to the Italians who came here before me and supported the foundation of the UCLA Department of Italian Studies. Their effort has contributed to create a friendly environment for Italian immigrants, and in particular for women." Quite different was her condition at the Southwestern University School of Law. To date, she is the only Italian immigrant to be accepted. "The University could have just taken my money and drop me because I didn't have a complete understanding of English legal language yet. But I was persistent, and begged for another chance until I made the grade. Attending Law School was very expensive, and I paid for it by myself as my parents couldn't help me. They would say I was smart enough to make it through." And now I know that they were right. After obtaining her Juris Doctorate, Margherita expected to find a good job but law firms didn't seem to be interested in an Italian woman with no connections in the United States. As a result, she started teaching Paralegal Studies and Criminal Justice at Florida State University in Central America, where she finally found a mili- tary officer willing to sponsor her to the Bar Examination in Pennsylvania. A few years later, she passed the exam in California as well. Even working full time for the District Attorney and Public Defender's office, Margherita didn't give up her dream to have a large and close-knit family. She got married to a devoted and supportive man, Glen Underhill, and they have seven kids. Her husband remembers that "Once we were visiting Margherita's family in Italy, and the security guard at passport control goggling at our children asked: hey, don't you have television in America?!" But with her natural Margherita with two of her beautiful daughters "mamma" attitude, she swears it is just a matter of organization and a team effort. Yet, working places rarely are mother-friendly. Margherita was a woman, a mother, and the only Italian immigrant in her office: it took some time for her to feel completely accepted. Today she serves the community working as an Attorney at Law, and by volunteering as Public Relations Chair and Board of Governors member of the Italian American Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, as well as Legal Counsel for Fondazione Italia, elected vice president for Federated ItaloAmericans of Southern California, and Advisory Committee member for the St. Thomas More Red Mass. "Nobody should be forced to choose between family and a professional career", she says. "My difficult experience as a first-generation immigrant and as a woman represents an added value in the way I do my job. I have never lost my Italian identity, and I believe that our community should work harder to preserve it through Italian organizations, TV and radio channels and newspapers. And we also need to increase representation in the local political and judicial institutions." According to Margherita, we still have quite a long way to go, but sometimes all we need is to trust our instinct and take a leap of faith. Things have worked out just fine for her.

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