Losing Sight of Your Cultural Identity

[Applause]

i said my last goodbyes

and i thought to myself when will i see

all of you again

my classmates threw me a goodbye party

my family members gave me hugs and

kisses with tears in their eyes

my mother father brother sister and i

grabbed our few suitcases and

embarked on our long flight to the

united states

i was scared i was scared to come to a

place i didn’t know

i was scared to make new friends i was

scared that i would know

no one i was scared to leave a place

that i called home

for so many years and i was also scared

of a place i did not know how to

communicate

with i am an immigrant and i never

thought i was different until i started

to experience being different

i came to this country when i was eight

years old

and i didn’t understand the language i

had to work hard

to learn it my name katajina malashevska

was not the easiest name for teachers to

pronounce

i was that kid that hid behind her desk

when the teacher arrived

at the letter k of her roster every

single year

year after year i watched my classmates

staring at me

and even making fun of me as i taught

teachers how to pronounce my name

i was embarrassed to be polish in middle

school

i had a few polish friends that i hung

out with every morning

before the school opened and next to us

there was a group of girls that actually

started to pick on us

because of where we came from they

called us all sorts of racial names

they made fun of our language they even

started to push

us up the stairs as we entered the

school building in the morning

and this went on for days until we asked

the school counselor to step in

and then it finally stopped this caused

me to actually hate speaking polish in

public

i was embarrassed of it and i felt like

it wasn’t safe for me

to be me i am an immigrant and i was

embarrassed of who i was and where i

came from

i never really realized it but these

experiences

caused me to slowly melt away from my

cultural identity

all of these childhood experiences led

on all the way through high school

i became very shy i tried to blend in

i hid myself i did not want to be that

kid that was pointed out to be different

i never spoke up i never spoke out

i watched my classmates share proudly

where they came from and i was extremely

uncomfortable

i never knew why all of this affected me

why was it that i was so afraid what

others thought of me

i am an immigrant and i lost sight of my

identity why was i going through this

identity crisis

why was it that i was so afraid of who i

was and where i came from

i struggled with belonging i struggled

with adaptation

i questioned myself and how i fit in in

this world it wasn’t until college

that i started to learn how to accept

myself

i was studying education to obtain my

teaching degree

and i had to take psychology and

multicultural education classes

and these began to open up my eyes and

change the way i started to see myself

i learned the importance of helping my

students

that came to this country feel accepted

and it also helped me accept myself

i felt like i was losing these old

pedals that didn’t fit me

and blooming new ones that actually

truly fit me

and i started to embrace my name and

where i came from and who i was

i started to find myself again and that

identity that i had

lost or you know left behind

so why is it that immigrants struggle

with adaptation

and belonging why is it that immigrants

have a hard time with who they are

and finding ways to fit in you see we

feel like we have to reinvent ourselves

to create this american identity

we feel like we have to change who we

are in order to fit in in this country

we struggle seeing ourselves through our

own eyes instead

we see ourselves through the eyes of

others so what can we do to change this

what can we do to help immigrants feel

like they don’t have to reinvent us

themselves we can start with our

children

as a past educator i watched my students

come into this country

and struggle the same way i struggled to

fit in

we need to teach our children to be

accepting

and open-minded towards others and other

cultures

children begin forming opinions and

beliefs at a very young

age and if they grew up close-minded

this can lead to bullying in schools

just like the bullying i experienced as

a child

and if we do not address it those

childhood

biases and prejudices that they create

lead on into their adult life

you see the beauty of this country is it

is made up of people from

all over the world this is what creates

the american

culture america is known as the melting

pot

because of the diverse cultures and

backgrounds that make

this country it is our duty

to teach our children to embrace one

another and our diversities

especially since america is growing in

the diverse cultures

racial and ethnic backgrounds as dr

caleb rosado said

there are seven aspects to

multiculturalism

number one recognizing diverse cultures

encouraging diverse cultural

contributions

acknowledging diverse cultural

expressions

valuing what other cultures bring and

have to offer

respecting the diversity and differences

empowering one another

to reach maximum potential but also

being critical of our own biases

and lastly celebrating and not just

tolerating our differences

in order to bring unity into this

country

and not only embracing one another

cultures embracing our own cultures you

see

only you can decide what you want to

hold on to from your own cultural

heritage

be proud of who you are speak your

language loud and proud and not be

embarrassed of it

celebrate what you used to celebrate

back home without any shame

and most of all share with others what

makes you

you because of where you came from

as i leave here today keep in mind it

all starts

at home and with our children we need to

teach them to respect the diversity in

this country

we need to teach them to be accepting

and open minding towards others

the more we do this work together the

better we pave a brighter future for our

children

and if you are anything like me learn to

be proud of

who you are and not be ashamed of it

remember the way we identify ourselves

as children

leads on into our adult life i

am dr cartagena malaysia suarez and

today i

am an immigrant i am proud to be polish

i am proud of where i came from and i am

proud of who i am

[Music]