Personal Narrative: My Personal Identity

When I think about the boy who I was growing up, the young adult I am today, and the man I plan to be in the forthcoming years, one aspect of my life stands out to me far more radiantly than anything else: my culture, my skin, my identity as a Bangladeshi-American. There aren't many clubs or organization for Bangladeshi Americans such as myself. Make no mistake, there are certainly events for Bangladeshis living in the United states, many that I have attended due to various entreaties from my parents. These are event where the only language spoken is one that I barely speak (Bengali), the only music conversed about is that which I don't listen to or understand, and the only events discussed happen in another country that I have spent only a …show more content…
To me these events are like peering through a looking glass into my past, the history of my family and culture. I look at the colorful clothes worn by people at the Bengali parties which I have attended and I think to myself, "Are these the garments that my grandparents and their grandparents wore? What's the history and story behind those designs?" It's interesting experience, the best way to describe it would walking towards everyone else with a bungee cord tied to your waist, snapping you back if you get to close. As hard as I have tried to embrace my culture, my efforts have never truly come to fruition, being a true part of the Bengali-community is simply a task that I don't think I can ever accomplish. That can be attributed to the "American" part of my Bangladeshi-american heritage. My "Bengali" side also is a part of how I see my identity as an American. Although I feel very comfortable at "American" events and places (barbeques and school for example), I can't help but get occasional pangs of being inapposite. My childhood was not similar to that of most of my