My Immigration From Togo

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Immigrating to the United States from Togo at age 17 by myself was a change that shaped the trajectory of my life. “Go back to Africa” and “speak English” were directed at me as a new immigrant, and that made me painfully aware that I was different. I was angry, uncomfortable, and alone. I was a minority.
Memories of my home in Togo resurfaced. My studio basement apartment was quite a contrast to the life I was accustomed to back in Togo. Back home, I grew up in an idyllic community surrounded by a large loving family and friends. Everything just felt unfamiliar to me and it made me miss home even more. My new home was different; everything was “big” from buildings to burgers, the food had a weird taste, the people dressed in very interesting
And instead on focusing on the differences between me and others, I started finding similarities so that I could relate to people. and surprisingly that was easy for me to do. For example, I met a girl from North Carolina who liked to dance salsa like me so we joined a salsa dance group near our school and we remained friends to this day. This has helped me let go of my feelings of loneliness and being different. My ability to embrace my differences has allowed me to develop confidence and prompted to share my culture with others. I joined the African Student Union on my campus and gained some friends and became more involved in my school and my
My peers have taught me to be open-minded and be willing to learn and share my knowledge. My professors have encouraged to find my purpose in life which is to impact people’s well-being and affect change in health policy. My other various experiences have helped me develop, focus, mature into a confident leader with a purpose in life. It is here, in the United States that I met my life partner. We met in college in our favorite African history class. I learned more about my continent’s history than I ever learned in Togo. This course encouraged me to tell my own story and connect with my heritage.
My husband is a Muslim from Cameroon and I am Christian and this interfaith marriage has opened my eyes to the beauty of our respective religions. We often have conversations about the similarities between our two religions and these conversations heightened my understanding of religion, and I learned to embrace diversity and inclusivity. I have come to understand that our cultural and religious differences add richness to our lives. Those differences have created a blended culture that satisfies our union. And we would not have had this open-mindedness if we had not received our education in the United

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