Personal Narrative: My Passion For Civil Rights

My environment cannot be described as “diverse” as Hialeah's population is mostly composed of Hispanics and my personal life consist of my parents and three real friends. Meeting Ayaan during my stay at Columbia was a welcoming experience that inspired me to learn more about others and their world. I met Ayaan while she was studying for her "Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing" course during lunch, when a mutual friend introduced us. Our first few conversations were about academic related subjects such as social problems and the significance of the legal system in the United States. While neuroscience was my concentration, Ayaan's passionate views towards civil rights called to me as her words reminded me of my origins. Days later, after forming a trustworthy bond, we shared parts of our personal stories. Ayaan was born in Somalia but raised in Holland after her mother migrated to the Netherlands. I discovered that Ayaan's passion for the law derived from her mother’s position as a political refugee in Holland and as a victim of the extremist practices of the Muslim community. My perspective of …show more content…
We discovered that we both strongly support civil rights as our families were subjected to governments that forced them to be silenced. Also, I shared with her my perspective towards standards of beauty, a passionate issue for me. The red birthmark that covers my left arm attracts not only attention from others, but also hatred from those that adhere to pop culture beauty standards. I shared with her my experience with a dermatologist that wanted to remove it with lasers, and she asked why I did not. My answer was that I love my flaws and that my self-confidence is what makes me who I am, disregarding what others may think. My example provided her with a lesson to never listen to others if she is content with her