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]