think for a second about all the things
here that we consider natural commutes
to our digital gadgets Gracie MacDonald
now imagine what it would be like if all
that shifted you wake up one morning
realizing that everything in the world
around you has changed and you’re now
expected to change with it scary huh but
that’s how I felt
moving from Tamil Nadu India to
Tennessee America when I was barely two
years old I was leaving my entire
extended family carrying only my
memories here to a strange new place
with the bright colors a new language
and bland generic food it confused my
identity like life was moving way ahead
of me and I was spinning out of control
and to think that I’ve lived in
Wisconsin right my life identity as
defined by merriam-webster dictionary
it’s a distinguishing characteristic of
an individual perhaps this
characteristic is our cultural identity
which has certainly played a large role
in my life my paternal grandparents
Vietnam to America bringing many values
lifestyles and traditions with them just
as my maternal ancestors did when they
came to America from Germany than 1700s
like my own Chinese culture identity has
shaped your life tremendously it can
certainly be said that culture shapes
our identity culture being the traits to
carry and identity being javi view
ourselves with that how do I explain in
a six minute talk the struggles I
experienced in America let me start with
an analogy I have once heard someone who
paired the English language to a burglar
stand in an alleyway and rifling through
the pockets of other languages for spare
gregor’s and change as an immigrant I
can only appreciate that metaphor while
the world out to my front door tilted my
parents became a protective bubble
because they were the only ones who
understood me quite literally as you can
probably imagine preschool was a
nightmare my bubble popped and I
realized the extent of my uselessness as
communication became a huge issue I even
missed heard one of my teachers named
disbarred and refer to her such be the
entire year everyone gave up on me
except miss Katie miss Katie taught me
English while other kids fouled away and
stared paints on paper inside of me she
planted his feet of Hope that gave me
the courage to speak out and learn
English the very courage that allows me
to stand on this platform today imagine
my for once I graduated to the next
class without her my first year in the
state left her without any doubt that I
was an outsider and for the longest time
that was my identity even though I have
lived
United States my entire life I’m too
nervous to my cultural identity made me
well different from others in some ways
on get to know you forms at school
I’ve heard that a Vietnamese soup
traditionally eaten for breakfast was my
favorite food and I could recall hearing
my grandmother’s phone calls often
spoken on her part in three different
languages today I’m grateful that she
could be here to hear me speak albeit in
only one language my my German ancestry
made me different too
even though the culture of my maternal
ancestors had come with them to America
in the seventeen hundreds trips to my
grandparents home still exposed me to
sights sounds and tastes different from
the lifestyle I’d grown up a horse a
buggy among cars on roadways shufai and
mince meat pies signs proclaiming fresh
truly just pick vegetables and fruits
known a bit foreign for those who lived
there and eventually not unfamiliar for
me I didn’t truly noticed how unfamiliar
America had become to me over the years
until I wanted trip to India I saw there
that the world had shifted again and my
memory said utterly betrayed me
I remember the heat the language even my
relatives where was a whole my vision
for so long even the little things in
gets at me off for example I’ve just
gotten used watching Teletubbies every
morning while having cereal for
breakfast but I just confined those
creepy fellow-creatures iron shell in
India and don’t even get me started on
the cereal coming back to America felt
natural a relief even with the confusion
that being an immigrant brings I know
I’m lucky took two homes with their
stark differences and close similarities
I’m connected to both through memories
and family and today I’m lucky that my
grandparents could be here from India to
hear me talk with the passage of time
I’ve come to realize that the world
around me had never changed I had I am
made of both ancient temples and there
are three ways silk saris and cotton
dresses spicy curries and greasy
McDonald’s India given me life culture
but America gave me an opportunity to
use my life and reach to the skies
I stopped struggling in English soon
after muchas concen part of that came
from finding refuge in stories in the
English burglar that had eluded me for
so long the seed mesquite planted all
those years ago
peasants blossomed into a love of words
pointing pages of long crest books I
found a piece of myself I’d never
thought I needed my world had harmonized
my identities had intertwined and in
many ways our identities are intertwined
with that of the United States to
remember my favorite food from before
thumb even that was influenced by the
cultures of my maternal ancestors and
the United States well traditional types
of thought include for God chicken soup
and football beef soup my
east-meets-west favorite is as my family
calls it butt steak which is exactly
what it sounds like and the horse and
buggies don’t seem to be common on
today’s highways for instance they’re
still metal in the melting pot that is
America at first glance it was easy to
see that our culture is different in
many ways but as we shared our stories
with each other we began to realize that
the way we feel about our cultures and
even some aspects of their respective
lifestyles are in many ways similar or
even the same the differences can help
us identify ourselves but the
similarities can bring us together
allowing us to connect and evolve and in
this way they act as a bridge between
our culture’s and the cultures of those
around us we are told to accept each
other’s differences but perhaps we can
also find ways to relate to find a
greater sense of community within us all
maybe the thing is that
Sonique are actually the parts of our
identities that are interconnected and in to find the most thank you
here that we consider natural commutes
to our digital gadgets Gracie MacDonald
now imagine what it would be like if all
that shifted you wake up one morning
realizing that everything in the world
around you has changed and you’re now
expected to change with it scary huh but
that’s how I felt
moving from Tamil Nadu India to
Tennessee America when I was barely two
years old I was leaving my entire
extended family carrying only my
memories here to a strange new place
with the bright colors a new language
and bland generic food it confused my
identity like life was moving way ahead
of me and I was spinning out of control
and to think that I’ve lived in
Wisconsin right my life identity as
defined by merriam-webster dictionary
it’s a distinguishing characteristic of
an individual perhaps this
characteristic is our cultural identity
which has certainly played a large role
in my life my paternal grandparents
Vietnam to America bringing many values
lifestyles and traditions with them just
as my maternal ancestors did when they
came to America from Germany than 1700s
like my own Chinese culture identity has
shaped your life tremendously it can
certainly be said that culture shapes
our identity culture being the traits to
carry and identity being javi view
ourselves with that how do I explain in
a six minute talk the struggles I
experienced in America let me start with
an analogy I have once heard someone who
paired the English language to a burglar
stand in an alleyway and rifling through
the pockets of other languages for spare
gregor’s and change as an immigrant I
can only appreciate that metaphor while
the world out to my front door tilted my
parents became a protective bubble
because they were the only ones who
understood me quite literally as you can
probably imagine preschool was a
nightmare my bubble popped and I
realized the extent of my uselessness as
communication became a huge issue I even
missed heard one of my teachers named
disbarred and refer to her such be the
entire year everyone gave up on me
except miss Katie miss Katie taught me
English while other kids fouled away and
stared paints on paper inside of me she
planted his feet of Hope that gave me
the courage to speak out and learn
English the very courage that allows me
to stand on this platform today imagine
my for once I graduated to the next
class without her my first year in the
state left her without any doubt that I
was an outsider and for the longest time
that was my identity even though I have
lived
United States my entire life I’m too
nervous to my cultural identity made me
well different from others in some ways
on get to know you forms at school
I’ve heard that a Vietnamese soup
traditionally eaten for breakfast was my
favorite food and I could recall hearing
my grandmother’s phone calls often
spoken on her part in three different
languages today I’m grateful that she
could be here to hear me speak albeit in
only one language my my German ancestry
made me different too
even though the culture of my maternal
ancestors had come with them to America
in the seventeen hundreds trips to my
grandparents home still exposed me to
sights sounds and tastes different from
the lifestyle I’d grown up a horse a
buggy among cars on roadways shufai and
mince meat pies signs proclaiming fresh
truly just pick vegetables and fruits
known a bit foreign for those who lived
there and eventually not unfamiliar for
me I didn’t truly noticed how unfamiliar
America had become to me over the years
until I wanted trip to India I saw there
that the world had shifted again and my
memory said utterly betrayed me
I remember the heat the language even my
relatives where was a whole my vision
for so long even the little things in
gets at me off for example I’ve just
gotten used watching Teletubbies every
morning while having cereal for
breakfast but I just confined those
creepy fellow-creatures iron shell in
India and don’t even get me started on
the cereal coming back to America felt
natural a relief even with the confusion
that being an immigrant brings I know
I’m lucky took two homes with their
stark differences and close similarities
I’m connected to both through memories
and family and today I’m lucky that my
grandparents could be here from India to
hear me talk with the passage of time
I’ve come to realize that the world
around me had never changed I had I am
made of both ancient temples and there
are three ways silk saris and cotton
dresses spicy curries and greasy
McDonald’s India given me life culture
but America gave me an opportunity to
use my life and reach to the skies
I stopped struggling in English soon
after muchas concen part of that came
from finding refuge in stories in the
English burglar that had eluded me for
so long the seed mesquite planted all
those years ago
peasants blossomed into a love of words
pointing pages of long crest books I
found a piece of myself I’d never
thought I needed my world had harmonized
my identities had intertwined and in
many ways our identities are intertwined
with that of the United States to
remember my favorite food from before
thumb even that was influenced by the
cultures of my maternal ancestors and
the United States well traditional types
of thought include for God chicken soup
and football beef soup my
east-meets-west favorite is as my family
calls it butt steak which is exactly
what it sounds like and the horse and
buggies don’t seem to be common on
today’s highways for instance they’re
still metal in the melting pot that is
America at first glance it was easy to
see that our culture is different in
many ways but as we shared our stories
with each other we began to realize that
the way we feel about our cultures and
even some aspects of their respective
lifestyles are in many ways similar or
even the same the differences can help
us identify ourselves but the
similarities can bring us together
allowing us to connect and evolve and in
this way they act as a bridge between
our culture’s and the cultures of those
around us we are told to accept each
other’s differences but perhaps we can
also find ways to relate to find a
greater sense of community within us all
maybe the thing is that
Sonique are actually the parts of our
identities that are interconnected and in to find the most thank you
Please follow and like us: