Masks I change where I’m from every time someone asks. It’s like having many different masks; I am constantly able to reinvent myself in different situations. Unlike my peers, I cannot simply state that I am from Marblehead, Massachusetts, “born and raised.” I am from a grey area, a mix of the concrete blacks and whites of places I’ve lived in, and things I’ve experienced. I never had the door frame with marks at my heights throughout the years, nor best friends that have been by my side since nursery. Instead I hold a map like a tourist in places I’m supposed to call home, introduced as the “new kid” far too many times. My childhood roots cover continents, because I don’t belong to any one place, I choose to belong to many. They say: “home
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I’ve often questioned which mask is true to me, only to realize they are all equal. At times my masks make me feel like a teenager with a fake I.D. trying to get into some exclusive club. While my Latino amigos call me “gringa” because of my perfect English and minimal time lived in Guatemala and Mexico, my American friends joke that Donald Trump will deport me at any moment, and ask if I rode a camel to school in Egypt. Other times my masks unintentionally made me feel like a snob. At eight I was unaware that riding camels by the pyramids wasn’t commonplace, and as a teenager am still shocked to find that there are people that have never flown in an …show more content…
Do they mean my mailing address, parent’s home, boarding school, hometown, storage unit, birthplace, or country lived longest? Answers to which are all different places. All of these places combine to create the facade I choose to present to the world. Like a chameleon, I can choose to blend in, or stand out, it all depends. So, where am I from, you ask? If you have time, take a seat, and I’ll introduce you to my many
I’ve often questioned which mask is true to me, only to realize they are all equal. At times my masks make me feel like a teenager with a fake I.D. trying to get into some exclusive club. While my Latino amigos call me “gringa” because of my perfect English and minimal time lived in Guatemala and Mexico, my American friends joke that Donald Trump will deport me at any moment, and ask if I rode a camel to school in Egypt. Other times my masks unintentionally made me feel like a snob. At eight I was unaware that riding camels by the pyramids wasn’t commonplace, and as a teenager am still shocked to find that there are people that have never flown in an …show more content…
Do they mean my mailing address, parent’s home, boarding school, hometown, storage unit, birthplace, or country lived longest? Answers to which are all different places. All of these places combine to create the facade I choose to present to the world. Like a chameleon, I can choose to blend in, or stand out, it all depends. So, where am I from, you ask? If you have time, take a seat, and I’ll introduce you to my many