Identity Exploration:

A unique identity marker that I believe is a highlight of my personality is what I like to call a
"Cultural Chameleon", which refers to how I can adapt to different cultural norms and
customs, blending in wherever I go. Although this may seem a very positive identity trait, it
had been something I was interestingly struggling with, and still am.

I was born in Saudi Arabia to multinational parents, and being of Egyptian nationality, I
always felt a sense of 'outsiderdom' there, I always thought that this feeling would eventually
be watered down as I went back to my homeland which is Egypt. With that belief in mind, I
was able to wait patiently until this feeling was gone in Egypt, but with my visit to Egypt a
couple of years ago from university, surprisingly I still haven’t gone over the fact that I feel
different. Not like other colleagues in uni, not like my friends, or even my family who were
already living here. I was called the "Egyptian" in Saudi, and the "Saudi" in Egypt. Even with
my trying to leave my past behind and adapt to my new "home" “ it felt like everything around
me was always stopping me from doing so.

My idea of home is not a physical place, nor the people who surround me, as if it were to be
so, I would have already felt at home in Sauid with my physical home, or in Egypt with my
supposed people. And this is what I have been struggling with. When someone asks me
about my homeland, I always think about my answer first: Am I Egyptian? Am I Saudi? Am I
Turkish?... And even though it was very intimidating at first to answer a question like this. My
answer was always different every time. Now, however, I am starting to have a better grasp
on what my answer can be, I am just a mix of all, I do not feel completely belong to a specific
place or time, and my sense of belonging is adaptable, and dependent on where I currently
am. This is when I discovered the benefits of this identity marker and started overlooking the
disbenefits it has caused me for years upon years.

I can not say I completely understand myself at this point, but I am thrilled to start the
journey of understanding myself. Almost as if I have more control over myself. This course
gave me an important idea that I want to figure out, however: how you want to be the
change. And I will be working on that.
ILLUSTRATION:

PS: I really enjoyed drawing this.

Identity Mindmap: