There are plenty of times in our lives when we all feel alienated and your teenage years are the prime for that. There’s plenty of instances I can recall being female and an immigrant, mostly earlier in life, but one specific time stuck out. It wasn’t a single event, but rather an experience. My experience of going to elementary school after I moved to America was definitely one of the first times when I felt separated from the larger group. I moved to Michigan from Pakistan in the June of 2005, when I was eight years old. I remember thinking how great it was going to be because I didn’t have to go to private school and wear a uniform. I could wear colorful clothes and not have to go to school. My parents and I could go out all the time, eat ice cream, and shop in the big malls. It was a dream until September came around and I learned I still had to go to school, and suddenly this new place wasn’t a paradise anymore. I made my peace with it, at least I could wear colorful clothes. I remember that I didn’t think it would be much different besides the dress code and my friends not being there, so I wasn’t too excited and didn’t expect much. Little did I know, my perception of things was going to change drastically. I was going to fourth grade and it felt like a world of difference once I stepped …show more content…
I feel like sharing the experience of being an immigrant could help me get the trust of an adult and children. Representation matters, especially in a field like this where the client could be coming in a vulnerable state and feel like they’re going to face more oppression. I can share my experiences to let them see that I get what hardships they could be facing and start a base of a client relationship. I hope one day I can share my experience with an immigrant child to help them realize they are not alone, and they are not weird for being