I can't quite put my finger on it, Hispanic, Pakistani...Italian? That's what people usually say when they try and guess where I'm from. I'm stuck in what seems to be "ethnic ambiguity" and I'm loving every minute of it. I love the fact that I confuse people or make them wonder. It may not be important but I think you should know, that my ethnicity, and upbringing has a huge impact on who I have become and where I want to go.
So, I'm from Egypt, technically, I was born in Kuwait, but both my mother and father are Egyptian. My brother and I were born and raised in the Middle East. In the early 90's we made the "big" move to America. As cliche as it sounds, it was for a better life. My parents had this plan well before we were even a thought. Immigration was not what it is today, we came with a green card and received citizenship when I was in middle school.
Being a Middle Eastern kid comes with some other cliches, most of us have a parent who is in the medical profession. While most feel the pressure to follow in those footsteps (I may have, for like a hot second then I bombed a Chemistry class and jumped ship), I had absolutely no pressure from my father. I think he is more of a realist than an over achiever. To explain...he never once suggested I pursue medicine, he actually advised against it. He wanted me to be a teacher but as any rebellious teenager, I was not going to listen to my father.
Instead, I decided to basically pursue EVERYTHING else. Are you ready? In no specific order...communication, sociology, theater, full time retail employee, Starbucks barista, photographer, consultant and finally...education. I have probably had more job/career changes than I can count on two hands. I didn't want to let all those options pass me by. I still think I should have pursued theater more aggressively, I am very dramatic. Just a side note, I recently went onto the Disney Careers website to see what it takes to become a Disney Princess at the parks. Is there something wrong with me? (Please don't answer that)
Again, I start a post and seriously go off on tangents.
As you can already assume, being an immigrant at the age of 8 makes things a little difficult, starting with not knowing the language. I can remember when we first moved here and my mother and I trying to shop for the first time. We were looking for a pair of tights. Just plain tights to wear under dressed or pants. Well, we didn't know the word tights, but we did know the words "tall" and "socks". We enter a store that I KNOW sells tights and other undergarments. We ask a saleswoman for.... "tall socks" aka. (straight off the boat for) "tights". She walks us over to a sections of....knee highs. I give this sales woman a lot of credit, she was correct. When we realized that it wasn't translating, we continue to repeat "tall socks" but this time, pointing to our waists to show that we want the socks to go to our waists, as tights do. Many valiant efforts were attempted but they were all unsuccessful. We didn't get tights, or "tall socks" or knee highs.
Fast forward many, many year and tons of English instruction and I am sitting in a cross roads of what do you with my life. I have graduated from the University at Buffalo with a Communication degree. Come on people, WTF is a communications degree and what do you do with it? I felt like I got duped! As if someone sold me a degree in some bullshit area because they needed to fill a quota. I interviewed at a Gospel Radio station and walked out scratching my head wondering what the hell do I do with my life because I have no Gospel bone in my body.
It was shortly there after that I got a phone call from a friend (I think she knows who she is) that really changed my path in life. And to be honest, I am an idiot for not even thinking this for my own path in the first place. I think life has a funny way of opening your eyes to things you didn't think you were meant for. This friend of mine is a teacher and was in a class with a student who only spoke Arabic. She had no idea what he was saying so she called me. She gave the phone to him and we talked in Arabic to figure out what was going on. I can't remember the specifics but we were able to solve the problem. She thanked me and wished that there were more educators in the school districts who could speak multiple languages. I am sure you can figure out what happened next.
11 years later, I am an ENL/ESL teacher but more importantly, I was that little kid who couldn't ask for tights. I may look for different from the kids I teach now in Buffalo but I can see myself in them in a much different way. I know their struggles and I can empathize with their needs. So yes, my background has really shaped who I have become and where I want to go...teaching is not the end all, be all for me. I have my eyes set on something much bigger. Things are already in the works and I will share soon.
Till next time,
-Deena
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