Professor Adrienne Oliver
ENGL 1A
29 October 2020
The Immigration Story of Gary Doyle
The plane shook violently as the Virgin Atlantic 747 entered heavy turbulence over the Atlantic ocean, far from both its launch port and its destination, a young man aboard thought to himself, “what am I doing here,” as his gut wrenched. Like many who ended up in America my father wasn’t born here but he made his way here nonetheless. The year was 1991, the Gulf War had just begun, the Hubble Telescope had launched, and someone's life had just been changed forever. He watched Heathrow Airport grow smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing into the London fog. All he had with him was a change of clothes, an interest in chemistry, and his trusty backpack. He left for love, his girlfriend was waiting for him almost halfway across the world.
Gary Doyle was born June 24, 1968, on the outskirts of London, England to Ivy and Patty Doyle. They lived in a tiny house on a terraced row on Glenfield's Road. Growing up Gary was always interested in the world around him, from a young age he would watch and collect tadpoles from the local pond and try to grow frogs at home, although never to any success. As a boy he also loved to read, his favorite genres were sci-fi and fantasy, “I would annually re-read Lord of the Rings after my exams.” Every day on his walk to school he would pretend to be a Hobbit or adventurer exploring in a strange land far from home. But as he grew older these dreams of exploration began to dwindle and recede. But would often be born again on his family trips to the lake or peak districts. The peaks district, nothing like the peaks of mainland Europe. They are relatively small when compared to their cousins on the mainland. Although small as they are they were more than adventure enough for a young boy.
His deep love of the natural world and his inherent gift for mathematics led Gary to naturally excel in S.T.E.M classes and he had a particular interest in the hard sciences, most notably, chemistry. While he was gifted in the sciences his linguistic skill left much to be desired and would frequently hold him back. Nonetheless, after a year of retaking exams, Gary was finally accepted into the University of Manchester in the graduating class of 1990. After three long years, he achieved his dream, being the first of this branch of the Doyles to graduate from university, with no less than a B.S. honors degree in chemistry.
During his second year at Manchester, Gary met a charming young woman named Lisa Reiser on study abroad from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. One year later Gary would graduate from Manchester, and the following year he would quit his job at the local supermarket, tell his mum he would be back in a month and set out with only his trusty backpack. His plan was to fly all the way to the San Francisco and West Coast of the United States.
Unlike many immigrants, his passage to the United States was not very difficult. There was no sneaking around in the dark, fear of being caught, or illegally crossing the border. For Gary, all he had to do was buy a plane ticket and walk right on board, which is exactly what he did. Although not to say it wasn’t frightening, he was still nerve racked and he was leaving behind the only place he had ever known for a future of uncertainty. Despite what he had told his mum he had already decided that he wasn’t coming back. After an anxious ten-hour flight Gary landed in America already missing home. He landed at San Francisco International airport. The flight itself wasn't unenjoyable but the fact that he was leaving the only country he had ever known for a new life of uncertainty loomed over him like a great black cloud. After Gary’s arrival in San Francisco, he set about looking for adventure. Beginning with walks around the block, slowly getting further and further out until his walks began to span miles around his tiny two-story apartment near downtown. The apartment itself was rather nice; the location was great, it was spacious enough for him and his girlfriend; and possibly the most interesting thing to him was that this small studio apartment had a very industrial cage elevator that made him feel as he had been transported into another world.
Once his appetite for adventure had been unleashed by his little walks around the city he began to research where to explore next. First, he made his way to the bustling trails of Golden Gate Park in the heart of San Francisco. While to his liking he wasn't quite satisfied, it was beautiful to him in its own right but he dreamed of something more. The next stop was Pt. Reyes National Seashore, this was much more to his liking. The sound of the ocean as they crashed along the cliffs reminded him of the Cliffs of Dover back home. Even Though he greatly enjoyed Pt. Rayes, what he really longed for were mountains. With this realization, he began to search for anew. This time he heard of a place not far from him with some of the most beautiful mountains in all the world, Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This was what Gary had truly desired, Mountains, alpine lakes, and waterfalls. Yosemite had it all and he loved it. He would go year after year for weeks at a time, enjoying every single second. This was what he was truly after. In April of 2000 his daughter was born, much of the first few years of her life they spent traveling, enjoying the world and all it had to offer, for he was still an adventurer at heart.
Now that he was in America to stay he set about looking for a job. After a few weeks of searching and the help of his honors degree, he secured a job as a laboratory temp at a local laboratory in downtown San Francisco. After a few months, he felt that this job wasn't the right fit for him so he left the position to find another job. This time his research led him to the chemical science division at an oil refinery near Vallejo. There he worked testing the water for its contamination levels in the refinery. Although after some years he again felt he was underpaid for the hours that he needed to commit to the job. In the Fall of 1996, he felt it was time for him to leave again, and so he did. But this time was different. He already had a place in mind, and he had gotten an interview which was scheduled to take place in a few weeks. The company was called Day, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Napa, California, where he worked as a full-time lab technician. After being hired in the fall of 1996 Gary would go on to work at Day for the next 20 years until he, like much of the staff, was laid off due to financial difficulties at the company. Over the next two years, he would go on to work for a variety of companies, but never for long, until in 2017 he was hired by Gilead Science Inc. where he still works today.
Even though he had a loving wife and a baby girl he still missed his family and mates back in England. So in the winter of 2000, he decided to go back with his new family nearly a decade after he had first left. While in England he promised his mum that he would come back every year, which is a promise that he still keeps to this day. In the summer of 2002, Gary took and passed his citizenship test becoming a full American citizen.
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