Left Alone Judged. The Common Story of the Immigrant leaving the Middle East

Diversity? Religion? Opinions? The thoughts shared by Usama Khalid sheds a light on how one adapts and observes the communities of America collectively.

Usama Khalid

In his own words...

"I have been fortunate to visit many countries in my life, but landing in New York on August 2nd 2009 felt strange. I guess, it had nothing to do with the city but thoughts in my mind that i will have to make a new life. I will have to start from scratch, and who knows how it will go. I really didn't know what will i do, i like to plan ahead but this time i really couldn't, i was flying blind. Leaving your house, friend and family is not an easy thing to do. Moving to USA made sense to my parents at least, i was fully and totally against it. But being 14 years old didnt leave me with any option but to follow my parents.

Last Monday i was sleeping in my bed in my house and this Monday i don't recognize anything around me. On your first day of school being in a place where you really didn't belong, you didnt know anybody, heck you didnt even know where the next hallway will lead you. For someone who always like to be certain about everything, this was a lot of uncertainty at once. I wouldn't say it was easy by any stretch of the imagination, it was immensely challenging. As time went on, i came to realize that i was making it harder than it really was, my mind was putting more hurdles in my way than people around me were getting rid of.

As some time went on i started adapting, i started getting into a routine. Learning new languages came to me naturally for some reason. I still remember how my english teacher was shocked when we had a conversation just 4 months after i started school and my english was almost perfect, knowing that i have never really spoken this language before. What really happened was that i accepted. I accepted that this is reality, this is the situation and now i have to make the best out of it. At times accepting the reality takes us a lot of time, its definitely not an easy thing to do.

Now I can say i have fully adapted to the american living style. Nobody can say just by looking at me that i came here only 6-7 years ago. It was a defining moment in my life, it changed everything for me, in a way it made me stronger it made me more flexible. I accepted something that i thought was impossible. At the end if i have the chance to go back, i will never change it. The person that i am today is because of that day 6 years ago. I will always love my first home Iran, but I'm an American now."

Ahmad Mahmoud Interviews Usama Khalid and deeply discusses Usama's experience in a class room in Iran and in America. Following this, it was important to discuss the thought of diversity and what that plays into in the classroom and essentially later on in life outside of school. In addition, is it culture or religion, to how things implemented in a family is discussed.