South India, specifically Andhra Pradesh, their grandpa was the superintendent of the school he ran in this small town. There were not many educational opportunities in India as a child, so the grandpa started his school. Many kids were married at the age of 10; there is unfairness in the world and poverty (being a third world country) in your face that this person faced in India. Shifting to moving, the father got a job in America, providing better educational opportunities for his kids. Moving as a kid, this person thought they were moving to another planet and going so far away. Going from 13 people in a house: aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents (nuclear families), to leave them behind was difficult. Coming to America, this person arrived in Chicago, where they faced racism. One piece of information to point out is that a work visa is required and then a lottery system to get a green card, and it can take 15 years to get one. 

Arriving in Chicago for third grade resulted in the teacher telling this person they could never achieve anything. This person highlighted how it is normal for minorities to be mistreated. During this year in Chicago, this person shared how they were getting a driver's test, and someone said, "where the hell do you people come from." 

There is representation in media of white people; for example, in Bollywood, people are whitewashed, and there is " fair and lovely," a cosmetic cream, you are prettier if you are whiter. This can be said for the United States and India. There was also a language barrier with the Indian accent; this person attended a private English school; the first language is English but was educationally minded at home (India).

  The accent made it harder to communicate; this person once said they could help a student in math, but the other student did not want to talk because of the accent. 

This person faced an abundance of diversity in Chicago and South Carolina, where people were curious and respectful when asking questions. Then this person came to Ohio for fourth grade; there was not as much opposition in school, but outside of school, it was significant. 

This person went to their best friend's house right by an elementary school, and the neighbor called the cops. These two were sitting in the car, but they seemed suspicious because of the person's headscarf; a common theme is staring and whispering from others. 

There was a big culture shock for this person because many Americans do not wear shoes in the house, they were surprised because their family does the same, and they both say pajamas the same way; there are lot more similarities than previously thought. They said that even as a Muslim in India they did not have to explain to the Hindus or other religions about their religion as much as they do in America.

In third grade, this person wore a thick jacket and pants to cover their brown skin because they were told this was bad; society hides brown people, so they thought they had to as well.

Colorism stems way back and is whitewashed in India; this person commented how it is nice to see more representation.

We then shifted the conversation. This person told me how they used to be very hard on themselves but ended up as valedictorian of their High School (proving the third-grade teacher wrong). They said that by being kind, despite whatever people do, and finding common ground, everyone is human.

They also commented on microaggression minority, as a minority, not just one is excluded, the idea that one is underneath the majority. In school (Ohio), Christmas was brought up; this person brought up Ramadan, you could hear a pin drop in that classroom. They said, "Everyone got super awkward, and it was embarrassing to bring up something you like." If you are not the majority, values, and identity are hard to bring up; people do not care enough to pronounce names.