I consider myself an average American teenager. I like going to the movies, football is a very unhealthy obsession and when I'm not driving a Ford, my heart breaks a little. My favorite food? The cheeseburger, and one shouldn't even get me started on the grandeur of Johnny Depp. You could say I grew up surprisingly normal "holding to one acceptation; a Syrian father raised me. My dad came to the United States in the late 80's hoping to further his medical degree by going to school for a few years and then ultimately return to Syria. This changed of course when he met my mother and "poof " here I came. .
While its important to note that my mother was very much American, it was my father who actually raised me and therefore my greatest influence has come from him. This has allowed me to grow up not only as an American teenager, but also as a Syrian. Any person who has visited the Middle East will vogue for how strikingly different it's culture is from the American, and I believe myself lucky to have such different cultures influence my life. While my favorite meal may be the cheeseburger, my second favorite is "macluba" a traditional Middle Eastern dish consisting of rice, tomatoes, meat, traditional spices, and other vegetables cooked purposely so that when served each ingredient is presented in a different layer. While I am grateful to be influenced by both these cultures, there are times when the cultures are so different that they don't work together and clash. It's when my American and Syrian cultures clash that the biggest conflicts arise in my life, conflicts that are most often not an easy fix. While the culture clashes have been difficult, they are what have defined me as person. The clashes have taught me that every situation can be seen from multiple perspectives and even though I'm constantly fighting an internal conflict, it's this conflict that reveals the best decisions I can make within my life.
