What would you say to your 10-year old self?

#acknowledgeyourachievements #Whatwouldyousay

#BeKindToYourself

When I was 10, l was a very serious and observant little girl. As a child of immigrant parents, I saw a lot of struggle and it had a profound impact on me. I could feel their sense of betrayal, as if their own dreams had betrayed them. They were doing well back home and they were comparing their previous life with the new one. It wasn’t fair to compare, things were drastically different back home, the circumstances, the environment, etc.

But here’s the thing, I think struggle has the potential to make you stronger, and that’s what it did for me, but is also came with fear and anxiety. As a kid, I started to fear for my future. What did it look like?

I took all of this anxiety and channeled it towards school. I wanted to give my parents proof that there was some good coming out of their decision to immigrate. And for me, school was the only thing I could control! It was also the only tool I had as a child that allowed me to break the cycle, to secure a better future for myself.

My goals and dreams felt farfetched back then. The idea of owning a home with a front lawn and a backyard felt unrealistic and far way, but I kept going, kept pushing myself.

The result: I graduated my high school class of 700+ students as Salutatorian!

Here I was, an immigrant, female, living in a somewhat ghetto area in New Jersey, graduating as Salutatorian and going to McGill University in Canada to study mechanical engineering. Can you count the number of moulds and stereotypes I was breaking? Lol!

I was so focused on my end goal back then that I wasn’t even truly aware of all the moulds I was breaking! Heck, I didn’t even know I was in the top of my class until my guidance counselor told me. And that’s because I wasn’t racing with others, I was racing with myself!

To answer the question, today I would go back to my young self and say: “Thank you for believing in your dream no matter how far it seemed, and for using the struggle as fuel and not let it defeat you. And finally, I would say, it’s okay, you did it, you are doing fine in the future. Keep doing what you’re doing because you’re on the right path.”

Be kind to yourself.

Love,

Alvina