I am a Third Culture Kid. My home is everywhere and nowhere. I was born in Bogota, Colombia and at 21 months old my mother adopted me in 1994. At the time, my mother was working in Colombia as an international school principal, and due to her job, my family and I moved around to several different countries including Bogota Colombia, Buenos Aires Argentina, Mumbai India, Islamabad Pakistan, Newton MA, & Caracas, Venezuela. 

Over time I learned how to adapt quickly to new environments, cultures, locals, and unusual and surreal experiences. The international lifestyle gave me the opportunity to travel all over the world, visit beautiful places, immerse myself in cultures, and try new things! Airports became my second home. Being a TCK also came with challenges such as grieving cultures and countries I learned to love in a short period of time. Saying goodbye to the friendships in the blink of an eye. And always seeking out a sense of community and belonging.

As an artist, it has been my curiosity and challenge to put myself in experiences that help me integrate my own memories and feelings of being a TCK into all my different art forms. Whether it’s through my acting, writing, visual art, or even photography. I recently workshopped my one-woman solo performance show called “Inshallah, We Will Move To Newton” at Dunamis’s Emerging Artist Fellowship Program. The story is autobiographical and centers around how my family and I evacuated from Islamabad, Pakistan to Newton, MA in 2009 after The Marriott Hotel Bombing forced us to move. The life we once knew of living internationally was no longer our future and once again we adapted to a new life.

I am proud to be a Third Culture Kid and I hope to continue shedding light on this unique upbringing. If interested in learning more about being a TCK, I would highly recommend checking out “Third Culture Kid: Growing up Among Worlds” by Ruth E. Van Reken.