The Good Ol’ 3

Being a third culture kid is great. It’s more than great. It’s incredible. Being an international student, however, is bittersweet. Let me elaborate on this a little bit.

I’ve been lucky enough to come from three different countries all over the world: Portugal, Ecuador, and Canada. My dad’s whole family is Portuguese and Canadian, while my mom’s whole family is Ecuadorian, but she is also a Canadian citizen. I was born in Canada, but I’ve also got citizenship in Ecuador and Portugal. Now that we’ve got that whole story out of the way, this does provide many opportunities for me and my brother, and we are able to visit family all over the world. Also, going all over the world to visit “home” is always a bonus. It’s also absolutely hilarious when people try to guess where I’m from when they first meet me. I’ve heard: Spain, Lebanon, the United States and Dubai, just to name a few. Never have I heard people say where I’m actually from, but some were close guesses! Having parents from two completely different countries, I have more exposure to different languages which is why I’m able to speak English and Spanish, but Portuguese is a no because having a father who can only say a single phrase “Vamos comer” (“let’s eat”) in the language, doesn’t help, but it’s easier to understand since it’s similar to Spanish.

Now, for the international student bit. It’s great to be able to go to different schools all over the world because of my parents’ work, but the exact thing I think is incredible is the worst too. I have lived in 5 countries going on 6, and have been to 4 different schools all at least 1,563 km away (Phnom Phen to Guangzhou). It’s great to live all over the world since I am able to travel to even more very exotic places,  which is always a bonus. However, I have made such incredibly close friends everywhere I’ve lived, and end up leaving again. It’s not a great feeling to leave my best friends and everyone I cared about behind and starting something new in a brand new country where I’ve literally got no friends and no idea about what I’m headed for.

Abby P, a new sophomore at AISG, is also a third culture kid and an international student who is American, Filipino, and Italian. She has been to six schools in total including AISG. Her thoughts on being an international kid are that “there are parts that can be hard, like saying goodbye to [her] friends. Especially since I am a consulate kid and have to move every two years, but I also love that I can travel to very amazing places and meet great people.” Elly A, who is a senior who came from Portland, Oregon in her junior year, thinks that being an international student is a great way to “learn about different cultures and see the world from a different point of view.”

Overall, being an international student is something very bittersweet that has its ups and its downs, but being a third culture kid is “eye-opening”, according to Abby P, “because [she] can see many different cultures and traditions”, which I hope is something that many third culture kids can agree with.