Letter From ArijKhan ’20 

Being a child of two immigrants myself, I have often found it difficult to navigate “normal” high school experiences. When I came to Marian, I had only heard of things such as homecoming and prom from the movies. While I was learning the ins and outs of my next four years, I noticed many of my friends had it all figured out.

My friends whose parents weren’t immigrants had already learned about these traditions from hearing old stories. During my freshman and sophomore year, it made me quite upset that I was not able to share funny stories of my mom’s high school prom or pictures of the dress she wore. All I had were stories of her life in Pakistan, which seemed like a world I could never relate to, even though it was my own culture. 

The fact that my parents could not share stories with me that I could relate to made me feel like I didn’t have a set identity. However, my identity is simply a mix of two vastly different cultures. I always felt I had to be the perfect example of both. However, now I have realized that who I am is not Pakistani or American, but a mixture of both, and I feel lucky to have both of these identities.

Throughout this investigation in the lives of both a child of an immigrant and one who isn’t, I now understand that as a society, we have changed a lot. No one has had it “easier” than the rest. It is important that we all grow and learn together to create a better, more inclusive tomorrow.