Reflective Essay: Growing Up In America

I will not exaggerate and say that growing up in America is a great experience and that it allows me to see Islam alone, as opposed to an Islam riddled with cultural influence. Nor will I exaggerate and say that growing up in America is a horrible experience, that I am surrounded by the influence of evil daily, and that I abhor living in "Egypt both statements are valid to a certain extent, and the point at which they compromise is the truth.

Growing up as a child of Egyptian migrants I, I was confused about my identity for quite some time. Was I Egyptian, Egyptian American, Muslim, an Egyptian Muslim American, American Muslim, or a Muslim in America? Never have I seen the arrangement of two or three words both so confusing and controversial. I considered Egyptian even though my attachment to the country and culture was not equal to that of a native Egyptian. I wore American clothes, spoke English most of the time, even in the home. My daily
connection Egyptian was through the food I ate and the Egyptian clothing I wore every so often. It was tough not having the same type of name as most of my peers. Even other children of immigrants, especially from Asian countries, had "American names" in addition to their "Chinese" or "Korean" names. I did not eat the same food as these children nor did I celebrate the same holidays. When asked the question what I received for Christmas, my face would usually turn a little red and I would try to change the subject. I realized I was not just the average American.

Yet in the same sense, I was not the average Egyptian.
At. When I visited Egyptian at the age of six, my relatives called me "Amrikan" or American. In their eyes, I was not Egyptian. I had the same type of name, ate falafel food, and looked just like them, but I was not Egyptian Back home in America, I had a different name, complexion, and color, but I was not American. So for much of my life, I lived with the absence of a true identity. I could not define myself and that left me confused.

Things began to change once I entered adolescence. I began to lose many of my friends because I did not see the opposite sex in the same light as they did. My friends began dating and the usual talking about girls, but even though I was attracted to the opposite sex, I did not make it a public spectacle like they did. As a Muslim, my interactions with the opposite sex was to be dignified and in accordance to Islam. So, I lost a lot of friends because I was not "cool" anymore, and thus I was isolated based on my character, my
beliefs.