I Am Who I Say I Am
I Am Who I Say I Am
Creating Me: A Journey to Living Freely
With $50 and a couple bags of belongings, my parents immigrated to the United States from China to craft the future they dreamed of for themselves and my siblings and I. That was their ambition.
Let Your Voice and Opinions Occupy Space in This World
LET YOUR VOICE AND OPINIONS OCCUPY SPACE IN THIS WORLD.
That is the first statement I'm starting this article with.
Nowhere To Call Home
I was adopted from South Korea and brought to to the US when I was a baby. I’ve grown up in a white American family in a predominantly white community. There aren’t any other Koreans, and hardly any Asians at all for that matter; so I’ve grown up extremely whitewashed, cut off from anything Korean, deprived of diversity.
Getting Cultured
I’ve never understood what people really meant when they said that they “didn’t see color.” My brown skin and long, wavy hair are part of what makes me, me. My reflection in the mirror is a reminder of where my family came from and of the ancestors who came before me.
Pushed Away and Reconnected
I was born in Sri Lanka but I was raised in Singapore. I only went back to Sri Lanka during school vacations, but they were my favourite part of each year as I would suddenly have over 25 other kids to play with, who spoke the same languages I do and looked the same way too. I learnt over time that they were my cousins.