Personal Experience: Immigrants In Canada

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Being born and raised in Canada, I have always seen myself as Canadian first, and everything else second. Coming from an Iranian background and the child of Iranian immigrants, in high school I was often labelled the “brown kid” or the “Iranian boy.” Although not the most derogatory of terms, they were a constant reminder that I was not the same as the rest of the students. My family didn’t celebrate Christmas, even though it was the only thing people talked about in December. Instead, we celebrated Eid, or “Nowruz” in March. We also didn’t celebrate Easter, it was just another day off for us. I was always pushed by my parents to do the best I could possibly do in school and not be distracted by such things, while most parents were fine with …show more content…
I knew I was not the only person who had to deal with racial issues on a daily basis, and I knew despite my disadvantage, I was still in a better economic position than many other people were. In many ways, I felt as though I had a duty, as someone who had always been passionate about social change, to play my part in society, no matter how big or small it may be. The more I was confronted by racial issues, the more I realized people did not make these gestures and accusations towards me out of hatred or engrained racism, but fear and ignorance. The best way to counter-act these fears is not through the same aggressive name-calling that generates racism and hate, but through education, understanding, and pro-active engagement in society. In my first year of University I joined many groups, some out of legitimate interest, and some out of complete curiosity. By my second year I was an active member of the Carleton Human Rights Society, the Carleton Law Society, the Carleton United Nations Society, and Carleton’s Engineers without Borders. My curiosity in these topics transformed into a passion to be an active leader and champion in these issues. I applied and became a member of Carleton Universities Event’s Department in 2015 and was charged with giving tours and personal advice to new prospective students and their parents who were planning on …show more content…
At Carleton, I am currently studying a combined honours in Law and Human Rights. It was by my 3rd year that I began to realize I was only really applying the social justice aspect of human rights to my life, not the legal aspect I was learning in my law classes. I started to realize that my drive for social change, especially in Canada, could be best achieved through studying law. As previously stated, coming from an immigrant and middle-eastern background I have firsthand experience in witnessing the outlook many immigrants, particularly of Middle-eastern decent, have towards Canadian society, and the Canadian legal system. Many immigrants feel disenfranchised, powerful, and therefore resentful of Canadian society. With my drive for social change, I feel that through studying law and becoming an active and engaging member in my community, I can work to drive real social change and to bring many distraught and disenfranchised communities back into the fold of active societal engagement. Within Canadian society, social movements can often have a very profound effect on influencing society’s perceptions on issues, but it is through the law that justice is truly achieved. I believe as a passionate individual with personal experience into the daily issues many immigrants

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