I am perpetually inquisitive, and because of this, I love talking to people from all walks of life. Today, I want to tell you why I am so passionate about this and what I've learned.
My story begins in Managua, Nicaragua where I was born; a place that to me was, and always will be, filled with magic. Ever since I was really young, my parents wanted me to have a wider view of the world. I remember a time when I was around five years old, my mom came up to me and said, “Kenia, we are moving, and you and your little sister..."- who was four at the time -"...are going to school in a place where nobody speaks Spanish. I want you to have the opportunity of experiencing different cultures." She went on about the benefits of picking up our lives and settling in the United States, stressing a little phrase that I didn't give much thought to at the time: "You never know what the future holds." Meanwhile, in my five-year-old mind, I wasn’t sure how moving worked. I thought it meant an extended vacation, and that it was going to be even better because we were going to go a little further north, and that I might even get to see snow or …show more content…
I opened the door, and there she was, sitting at the desk, with a headscarf. Her name was Safa, and she was Muslim from Pakistan, and not at all what I expected. I looked at her and I knew that she could sense my disappointment, because I didn't try to hard to hide it. See, as a teenager, I wanted fit in, I wanted to be popular, maybe even have a boyfriend for homecoming, and I felt that Safa stood in the way of that. She was shy and had a strict dress code that was far from the American ‘average.’ I didn't realize that in that moment I made her feel the way the other kids had made me feel. This was the high school equivalent of asking her, "Do you know what a hamburger is?" I was consumed by my own selfishness and unable to put myself in her
My story begins in Managua, Nicaragua where I was born; a place that to me was, and always will be, filled with magic. Ever since I was really young, my parents wanted me to have a wider view of the world. I remember a time when I was around five years old, my mom came up to me and said, “Kenia, we are moving, and you and your little sister..."- who was four at the time -"...are going to school in a place where nobody speaks Spanish. I want you to have the opportunity of experiencing different cultures." She went on about the benefits of picking up our lives and settling in the United States, stressing a little phrase that I didn't give much thought to at the time: "You never know what the future holds." Meanwhile, in my five-year-old mind, I wasn’t sure how moving worked. I thought it meant an extended vacation, and that it was going to be even better because we were going to go a little further north, and that I might even get to see snow or …show more content…
I opened the door, and there she was, sitting at the desk, with a headscarf. Her name was Safa, and she was Muslim from Pakistan, and not at all what I expected. I looked at her and I knew that she could sense my disappointment, because I didn't try to hard to hide it. See, as a teenager, I wanted fit in, I wanted to be popular, maybe even have a boyfriend for homecoming, and I felt that Safa stood in the way of that. She was shy and had a strict dress code that was far from the American ‘average.’ I didn't realize that in that moment I made her feel the way the other kids had made me feel. This was the high school equivalent of asking her, "Do you know what a hamburger is?" I was consumed by my own selfishness and unable to put myself in her