Growing up in a small, uniform community such as Great Falls, it's easy for people like me to feel on the on the outside, like an outcast. My hair and eyes, instead of being blonde and blue like all of my classmates, are a dark hue. My family does not share a last name, and at home, we speak Amharic, instead of solely English. Throughout my early years of school, I endured countless amounts of taunting. I was hurt and afraid, and didn’t know why.
When I first began school in Great Falls, the students had set expectations for my behavior; an assumption which was no fault of their own, but rather the product of the prejudice labeling developed and instilled by society. In the classroom, I am not expected to get good grades because of the false narrative regarding the intellect of my race. At first, I wanted to succumb to the encompassing voices, escape the pressure, but instead, I strove …show more content…
I didn't just wake up one morning and think, "I'm proud to be African," but as I have grown wiser, I have learned not to be ashamed of my background. Instead of hiding who I really am, I have embraced my Ethiopian heritage and have become proud of who I am. After learning of my fallen uncle, a doctor who gave his life to suppress the Derg Regime, I have become more invested and involved with my culture. In the summer of 2016, I traveled to Ethiopia and volunteer at an elementary school, teaching English, providing young kids with a glimpse hope in a place where it is hard to find.
As I look back, I can’t believe I ever dreamed of changing who I was to fit in. Everyone is special in unique ways, and it is this diversity that makes the world go round. I absolutely love who I am, and it’s my ethnicity that has granted me this privilege. Today, the trivial comments and jokes don’t hurt me or drag me down. I use them as motivation: the spark to a fire which will strive to break the binding stereotypes casted upon the historically
When I first began school in Great Falls, the students had set expectations for my behavior; an assumption which was no fault of their own, but rather the product of the prejudice labeling developed and instilled by society. In the classroom, I am not expected to get good grades because of the false narrative regarding the intellect of my race. At first, I wanted to succumb to the encompassing voices, escape the pressure, but instead, I strove …show more content…
I didn't just wake up one morning and think, "I'm proud to be African," but as I have grown wiser, I have learned not to be ashamed of my background. Instead of hiding who I really am, I have embraced my Ethiopian heritage and have become proud of who I am. After learning of my fallen uncle, a doctor who gave his life to suppress the Derg Regime, I have become more invested and involved with my culture. In the summer of 2016, I traveled to Ethiopia and volunteer at an elementary school, teaching English, providing young kids with a glimpse hope in a place where it is hard to find.
As I look back, I can’t believe I ever dreamed of changing who I was to fit in. Everyone is special in unique ways, and it is this diversity that makes the world go round. I absolutely love who I am, and it’s my ethnicity that has granted me this privilege. Today, the trivial comments and jokes don’t hurt me or drag me down. I use them as motivation: the spark to a fire which will strive to break the binding stereotypes casted upon the historically