She Felt Like An Outsider
Still, it was not exactly easy for her. She said, “Despite all their love and hard work, as a kid, I remember feeling as though I couldn’t culturally catch up to my peers. Especially when it came to beach towels—these really stupid, but really cool, but actually really stupid towels. All my classmates owned these colorful beach towels with Disney characters on them. I desperately wanted one, but instead, I had this orange and white patterned thing, a glorified Slavic doily—that my parents brought with them from Uzbekistan. To me, it was a smoke signal alerting all potential friends that I was NOT. FROM. HERE.”
She Felt Like An Outsider
Taking Pride In Her Heritage
This was the visa that Milana and her mother used when they first headed to the United States. In those days, she was still far too young to get her own visa and had to come with her mother. She was still very young and has no recollections of her home country. We are glad that her parents made sure to share their culture with their children! Apparently, they spoke and continue to speak Russian in their home.
Taking Pride In Her Heritage
