I cannot confidently answer that question since the self is a difficult task to undertake. I can, however, give you a few stories and facts about what I have been through, what I am doing and where I hope to be, in the hopes of fashioning a somewhat telling image of myself.
I am a 22 year-old student, currently in my fourth and final year at UC Berkeley. I am majoring in architecture but have had the pleasure of taking many exciting classes in other disciplines that I've been equally enthralled by, including philosophy, art, sociology, math, physics and more.
The question of where I am from is a puzzling part of my identity I often find myself trying to answer, just as I know many others do, given we live in a increasingly globalized world. I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Saudi Arabia but I am not a Saudi citizen. I attended a French school until the age of fifteen and I also hold a French passport, but never lived in France besides the five months I spent studying there in 2014. My parents grew up in Lebanon, and that is where we spend almost every holiday, since most of my extended family lives there. I have also been living in California for the past four years, which has impacted me to a certain extent, and given the nature of the media, I have also been very influenced by American culture ever since a young age. Make of it what you would like, but I cannot give you a short answer about where I am from without feeling like I'm selling myself short. But for the sake of brevity, it happens quite often.
Belonging to several cultures also means that I don't completely belong to either of them. I could simply say I am a citizen of the world, which I am, but culture is heavy, passionate and expressive, and I don't think it should be painted over in one color.
I'm not sure where I would like to be in ten years, I couldn't even tell you where I'll be in the next ten months but I know that I want to feel passionate about what I am doing. I love to create and I love to read and learn. Education is what I've been doing my entire life and I really do enjoy it, but I am ready to see what the working world has to offer.
I am a 22 year-old student, currently in my fourth and final year at UC Berkeley. I am majoring in architecture but have had the pleasure of taking many exciting classes in other disciplines that I've been equally enthralled by, including philosophy, art, sociology, math, physics and more.
The question of where I am from is a puzzling part of my identity I often find myself trying to answer, just as I know many others do, given we live in a increasingly globalized world. I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Saudi Arabia but I am not a Saudi citizen. I attended a French school until the age of fifteen and I also hold a French passport, but never lived in France besides the five months I spent studying there in 2014. My parents grew up in Lebanon, and that is where we spend almost every holiday, since most of my extended family lives there. I have also been living in California for the past four years, which has impacted me to a certain extent, and given the nature of the media, I have also been very influenced by American culture ever since a young age. Make of it what you would like, but I cannot give you a short answer about where I am from without feeling like I'm selling myself short. But for the sake of brevity, it happens quite often.
Belonging to several cultures also means that I don't completely belong to either of them. I could simply say I am a citizen of the world, which I am, but culture is heavy, passionate and expressive, and I don't think it should be painted over in one color.
I'm not sure where I would like to be in ten years, I couldn't even tell you where I'll be in the next ten months but I know that I want to feel passionate about what I am doing. I love to create and I love to read and learn. Education is what I've been doing my entire life and I really do enjoy it, but I am ready to see what the working world has to offer.
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