Personal Narrative: The Putney School

Uprooted from the only home I had ever known, and too embarrassed to utter a single word in english, it seemed as if my worst fears had come to life. For many, this may have been the case, but for my mother and I, this was our chance to shine. I had always been a confident girl back in Kenya, and this was because I had everything I ever needed and more. Through my childhood, I encountered and saw things no child should experience, but I still remained undaunted. My mother would always call me the little parrot with herculean strength. The only true fear I had ever known was losing my mother. The only oppression recognizable to me was my second grade teacher who used her cane whenever she felt as if physical chastisement was appropriate, and …show more content…
At The Putney School, I have met unbelievably passionate people, ebullient guest speakers, and very supporting faculty members, who unknowingly, have helped empower me. My culture has began feeling foreign to me as it was something that I spend years stifling in order to feel accepted as this world may sometimes feel so exclusive. Last year, I did an intensive Ethnic and Cultural study on Kenya towards the end of the spring trimester and many things truly began gaining a perspective. In the concluding author’s note section, I wrote that I was no longer apologetic about my past in Kenya, but I didn’t know whether or not I truly believed that until I went home and began listening to Kenyan music in my free time. I began speaking Swahili a lot more frequently, and when people would ask where I came from, my first response would be Kenya, not New Jersey. All of a sudden when people mentioned that they heard a slight accent in my speech, I would feel flattered, not insulted. In fact, after reading the Queen of Katwe, recently, I have began doing some extensive research on