I grew up hearing stories of my father waking up at 5am to walk five miles in the scorching heat or blistering cold to school every day and back. My grandfather was unable to afford the provision of higher education to his four children. He could only afford to send one child; my father was the lucky one. Unlike my father, my mother was not so lucky. My mother grew up in a house where women should aspire to be wives, not career women. As such, before she even graduated from high school, at the tender age of eighteen, she was married off to my father. A skilled baker and artist, the abrupt halt in her education and subsequent thrust into motherhood obstructed her path to a career. Due to her own setbacks, my mother always feeds my intellectual curiosity and is a motivating force behind my ambitions and hard work. As a result, the upbringings of my father and mother are critical in the role they play in my future. As the eldest and only male child, I am expected to act as a role model and guardian to my ten and three year old sisters. Every decision I make is seen through their discerning eyes and this has developed my sense of drive and commitment to set an example for.
I was born and raised for the first half of my life hopping around different cities in the South of Pakistan to Muslim parents. A relatively under developed country at the time, there was a constant sense of danger associated with living in Pakistan. With a relatively unstable political situation at the time, there was a lack of diversity and influence of ideas from other countries. At school 99% of my classmates were part of the Pakistani Muslim community. Our culture and subculture were identical and everyone seemed to share similar views and philosophies. With...
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...ed social rituals will begin to fade out and be replaced, leaving people with amalgamations of a social identity from many different countries.
Growing up as a child in Pakistan, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and a resident in New York City, I was confused about my identity for quite some time. When someone would ask me where I was from I would probably reply with “Pakistani, but I live in Dubai”. Although I wear European clothes, speak English around the house and have only visited Pakistan twice in the past 10 years, I considered myself Pakistani even though my attachment to the country and culture is nowhere near equal to that of a native Pakistani. However, after exposure to an era with rapid technological growth, and the influence I have had from many different cultures, I realized my identity was not that of a typical Pakistani, and I was okay with it.
I was raised in an encouraging household where both of my parents greatly valued education. Although they were high school graduates, neither could afford to attend college; a combination of family and financial woes ultimately halted their path. As a result, my parents frequently reminded me that getting a good education meant better opportunities for my future. To my parents, that seemed to be the overarching goal: a better life for me than the one they had. My parents wanted me to excel and supported me financially and emotionally of which the former was something their parents were not able to provide. Their desire to facilitate a change in my destiny is one of many essential events that contributed to my world view.
Since 1982 and the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada has asserted itself in the promotion of multiculturalism and equality of all citizens. Canada is a democratic society which stands to address the needs and desires of individuals in a fair and open approach. In addressing multiculturalism, understanding how some specific groups may be at a significant disadvantage based on their perception in society. It is argued that the ideals and laws incorporated in the Islamic religion and culture make it challenging for individuals to successfully immigrate and adapt into a western democratic society. There are significant challenges in all aspects of their lives, that make them find difficulty in adopting a new way of living while still adhering to their faith and culture. Post September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have left Canadian immigrants and citizens who are of the Islamic religion and culture, the most scrutinized members in a country that promotes multiculturalism. This is due to negative media connotations, the failure of the government perpetuating fear and allowing concepts like Islamophobia to be produced among citizens.
Today many people undergo challenges in their lives and they can either let it stop them or push forward. As the eldest child of a single mother, one huge adversity I had faced growing up would be helping my mother with my two younger brothers. My parents divorced when I was six years old and my father being in the military was deployed around the world. I don’t think not having my father active in my life put me at a disadvantage but there were times where things would’ve been easier if he were there. My mother wasn’t able to work most of the time because she had to watch my younger brothers. Therefore, we are considered a low-income family. Throughout my life, I had to learn how to prioritize and balance my education with home life. As I
My mom’s life as a kid wasn’t too easy. She was born in New Jersey and ever since she was five years old, she knew that she wanted to be a doctor. Her dad, Harvey, was a doctor and her mom, Elaine, worked in a pathology lab all throughout her life. My mother’s parents got divorced when she was very little. Her “normal” was very different from most kids’ “normals” her age. She had a hard life at home when she was a little girl, with her dad pushing her to play the piano when her passion was really dance, along with medicine. She has a younger brother, Peter, who was a bit of a troublemaker when they were young. She also h...
...t them differently, both negatively and positively. Until Muslim women start being accurately represented in the media, they will continue to be excluded. Thus, the West needs to be more educated regarding Muslim cultures and discontinue portraying them in such a negative and narrow way. These Muslim women are negatively impacted by this negative representation as it alienates them from the rest of the Canadian nation. These women feel that there is a frequent inaccuracy in how they are portrayed which is problematic because these negative connotations make people believe that all Muslim people are homogenous. Another strategy is for Muslim women themselves to increase their Islamic knowledge and to actively assert their identity. This paper expanded my knowledge of the structures and institutions, and the power they have on our understanding of different cultures.
While there are many things standing in my way, my experiences have prepared me. My mother’s kidney disease shows me the importance of being financially prepared for the unexpected. My dad’s hard work and sacrifice has shown me how to be a hard-working woman and to put others before myself. And most importantly, I have learned that no matter a person’s race, gender, or class, you never truly know a person’s
In my family, my father is the head of the household. He is the one that brings in most of the money, keeps everyone on track, and is the family clown. He has such an important role in our life. On February 9th, 2015 a day after my sister was released from the hospital, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement took my dad under arrest. We did not know that in the 5 minutes that he would step out of our home that he was never going to come back. Little did any of us know that that would be our last time being all-together as a family. The arrest and deportation of my father has affected my family emotionally, and financially.
Although, "Do Ahmadis deserve to live in Pakistan?" is a magnificent example of logical progression of ideas coupled with simple use of vocabulary and is full of strong emotional appeal, however, author's extensive partisanship towards one side, vague historical references, and occasional use of fallacious rea...
Ever since I can remember I always wanted to be like my mother. She’s confident, strong, funny, and an all around great person. Due to her influence, and the fact that she was such a role model in my life, I was given the nickname “Little Janice”. Not only for the simple fact we look like each other but, because I have adapted her personality and mannerisms. I always loved and admired the fact that she was a teacher, and I always thought it was the coolest job to have because that is what my mom does. Growing up I secretly always knew that I was going to become a teacher because of that notion. Here I am at nineteen years old studying special education. The same thing goes with my dad. My dad comes from an extremely athletic family, and I wanted to be apart of that too. He pushed me to be the best athlete that I could be, he gave me advice on how to be better, he would spend hours outside with me practicing on whatever sport was in season at the time. Due to that I had opportunities to play soccer in college. When my dad was teaching me about the world of sports it was our special time. We would have to drive hours to soccer games on Sundays and to practices three times a week and during that time in the car is really
Syed Mansoor Hussain is a columnist in “Daily Times”, a Pakistani newspaper. He has practiced and taught medicine in the US. This article, “Proud to be a Punjabi” was published in the Daily Times on the fifth of February, 2014. In the article, the author has described the role and significance of Punjab in the history of Pakistan. In addition to this, he has tried to prove that Punjab is not responsible for everything bad happening in the other provinces. The author has described the role of Punjab before and after independence in the Pakistani politics. The author also says that whatever happens in other provinces, Punjab and Punjabis are held responsible for it. In the end, the author has highlighted a few cultural aspects of Punjab.
Who has had the most impact on my life? Who can I honestly say that I looked up to growing up and was instrumental in helping me become who I am? I never really had a true hero figure growing up. I didn't have a desire to follow the example of any sports player or character from a book or movie. I guess when I really think about it the one person who means a lot to me is my father.
... Aside from power, the recurrent leitmotif is the constant comparisons that Changez makes between America and Pakistan. (‘Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan, home to as many people as New York...’) Also, he resents the grouping of Islamic identity as one by symbols such as the beard, burqa, etc. Yet, he too homogenizes the American identity to an extent. He frequently describes other Americans as ‘not unlike yourself’ and their actions as ‘just as you are doing now.’
In my formative years, I am sad to admit that I was the most critical of my mother. We suffered from what experts would identify as ‘mutual incomprehensibility’, and I believe at times we still do; however, as I grow more and more into woman hood and our bond has been strengthened with experience, I have had the amazing opportunity to gain a true sense of my mother and have come to admire her in many ways ( though she probably doesn 't believe me). For whatever reason, I once found solace in reducing all my problems as some fault of my mother’s inability to prepare me for adulthood. Instead of seeking advice and wisdom, I rebelled! Looking back, I now realize she only wanted to protect me, to help me, but as a teen that felt like control
When I was a child, my mother would constantly remind me about how important it was to have high expectations. My mother is originally from Central America. In her country, people are very unfortunate. She loved school and dreamed of becoming a nurse. However, she had to leave school to help my grandmother, economically. She decided to come to America and to endow my brothers and me with the education she never had. For this reason, most of the things I have accomplished throughout my schooling are because of my mother. I always perform my best in everything I do because I want to make her proud. I know that through me her dreams are becoming a reality. I plan to ...
While in school, Mom didn’t have it to easy. Not only did she raise a daughter and take care of a husband, she had to deal with numerous setbacks. These included such things as my father suffering a heart attack and going on to have a triple by-pass, she herself went through an emergency surgery, which sat her a semester behind, and her father also suffered a heart attack. Mom not only dealt with these setbacks but she had the everyday task of things like cooking dinner, cleaning the house and raising a family. I don’t know how she managed it all, but somehow she did.