I consider myself multi-cultural because of the fact that I am always moving. Moving in another place in my neighborhood, in another neighborhood, in another city, in another country is something that I am used to. Thanks to that, I can adapt easily wherever I am.
I was born in France, then I went to live in Spain for 1 year, then went back to France. After that, I moved in Africa for more than 5 years in a country named Cameroon. Between those years, I moved for one year in a country named Congo. Then, I went back to live in Cameroon. After that, my family and I went back to Paris where I spent my 8th grade year and went back to Cameroon in the middle of my 9th grade year. We spent 6 months there and we went back to France. I spent my 10th grade year there and for my 11th grade year I came to America to study music and play basketball. Last year, I was in California and now I am in Florida, ready to move to Boston for college in August.
From all those years I spent in those different places, people always treated me kindly. I never experienced things like racism or discrimination so I cannot lie and say that me being an immigrant is bad or not worth it. At the contrary, because I am an immigrant, I have the possibility to learn new cultures and be able to share mine. I am French so sharing my French culture is a delight. Also, my mother is Cameroonian and my father which is French lived in Congo. Therefore, I have so many cultures to learn, to understand and to share. However, the bad points is that I am involved in so many cultures that sometimes it is a burden on my relationships. For example, I love my mother but our relationship is full of fights all the time. We even needed to see a psychologist together. She told us that the reason of our fights is happening because of a clash of culture which is due to me being raised in Africa and me being raised in France. The mindset is different. In Africa, traditions leans more towards children listening to their parents no matter what, no openings for discussion when in France, negotiations are possible. It is my point of view. This was a challenge that affected my life a lot because my mother is everything and I need her to succeed in what I want to do and it is also thanks to her that I am where I am today. Fortunately, I did a lot of work and now our relationship became more peaceful and calm. It helps me looking forward the future without worrying about how my mother will act or will think.
Another challenge that I had to face being an immigrant is communication. I know that I said that I can adapt easily but everywhere I go there was always this issue about my accent. Now, I have a complex. When I talk in English, sometimes people don t understand me and I have to repeat many times what I said. There were also a lot of times where people, classmates made fun of my accent. Of course, there were also those who were always saying that my accent is cute and I m always thanking them but it’s too late. The accent complex is there. I improved concerning that matter but people asking me to repeat myself is still happening a lot. For example, my biology teacher always needed to put her face in front of mine like she was going to kiss me to understand me. Moreover, she was already so close and she was always asking me to put my mask down!!! This is why I have a complex. Despite all that, it gives me the motivation to improved myself concerning those matters because for what I want to do in the future, I need people to understand me when I talk. So, I practice a lot for my dream and my future.