Cultural Diversity In My Life

Just as a cover does not fully reveal the text of its book, the ambiguousness of my physical appearance has never truly represented the cultural diversity and experiences of my life. People have inquired about my nationality and guessed countries from the sunny shores of Samoa to the mango orchards of India. In the sunshine and heat of the summer, a person wouldn't likely guess, from the melanin in my skin and salty ringlet curls that crown my head, that I fluently speak Croatian and love the Croatian folk dance “kolo.” However, weeks into winter that same person would not guess from my pale tan and straightened hair that I experience the prejudice of bearing the label “Black.” The diversity of my background continues when a person asks me where I am from, to which I recite the following: “My dad is an African-American soldier from

While in America I spent some time in Virginia, Texas, New York, and North Carolina, but now I am back in Italy.” Unfortunately, my mother passed away from leukemia when I was young, and now I make my home with my father, Polish stepmother, and two younger half-brothers who call me Nelle. Therefore, answering the question “what language is primarily spoken in your home” has been difficult to answer due to having a blend of Croatian, English, and Polish spoken at all times in varying amounts. Being in a military family that spans from the coast of California to the edge of Croatia, I began traveling alone at the age of 12 to relatives far and near. I quickly became comfortable with the independence and responsibilities of traveling. Consequently, I have been fortunate enough to experience adventures such as swimming in the geothermal spas of Iceland and sightseeing in the metropolitan city of London. These linguistic and global experiences have been a fertile ground, preparing to begin formal study in the field of foreign