Growing up being a minority in a small, rural, almost all white community was a challenge for me. I had to learn to adapt to my surroundings while learning the values and traditions of two cultures. This led me to gain a greater understanding of how to overcome difficulties with the wisdom of both experiences. By being a minority, I also saw a great opportunity before me. I recognized that I could help eliminate false stereotypes and racist norms that a person may have had.
When you are child growing up in a village of only 1,000 people, life may seem very intimidating. The notion of racism always seems to loom. Sometimes I wonder, why has this person been staring at me and making snide remarks to his buddy? Have I done something wrong? At a young age I knew I would always be considered an outsider, therefore I told myself I should remove any stigmas that a person may perceive about me. Firstly I told myself that I am a Pakistani American, and I am proud of my heritage. I did not want to change for anyone, because I believed that before I come to reality about an issue as sensitive as this I should truly love myself for who I am and not ever …show more content…
To fully embrace the "American" culture around me, I grew a love of sports, fishing, hunting, boating, water sports, snowmobiling, and even politics. I started to become more recognized as a person who loved to learn and be active and less as the "brown Muslim kid". People connected with me very easily because I would associate with them one way or another. Finally by my freshman year in high school, most people knew me by my individual characteristics, and not just my appearance. My goal in the future is to help take down unnecessary stereotypes, and help phase out ethnocentrism. I want people to see each other for their beautiful individualism and not to make assumptions just because someone is of a different ethnicity or
When you are child growing up in a village of only 1,000 people, life may seem very intimidating. The notion of racism always seems to loom. Sometimes I wonder, why has this person been staring at me and making snide remarks to his buddy? Have I done something wrong? At a young age I knew I would always be considered an outsider, therefore I told myself I should remove any stigmas that a person may perceive about me. Firstly I told myself that I am a Pakistani American, and I am proud of my heritage. I did not want to change for anyone, because I believed that before I come to reality about an issue as sensitive as this I should truly love myself for who I am and not ever …show more content…
To fully embrace the "American" culture around me, I grew a love of sports, fishing, hunting, boating, water sports, snowmobiling, and even politics. I started to become more recognized as a person who loved to learn and be active and less as the "brown Muslim kid". People connected with me very easily because I would associate with them one way or another. Finally by my freshman year in high school, most people knew me by my individual characteristics, and not just my appearance. My goal in the future is to help take down unnecessary stereotypes, and help phase out ethnocentrism. I want people to see each other for their beautiful individualism and not to make assumptions just because someone is of a different ethnicity or