During President’s Day, Feb 17, my mother planned to take my grandpa and me to Otay Lakes County Park for a picnic with a few friends. Once we reached the park, we set up food and began eating. After I finished, I became bored as my mom talked with her friends, so I began studying my surroundings in the park and witnessed a few other families whom I found interesting.
As I looked at the children and parents I realized that these families seemed to be of a different ethnicity, most likely from Afghanistan. Most of the women were wearing hijabs, which did not surprise me, but what did was the location in which this family chose to come. San Diego has 3.27 million residents, 1.4 million of whom are white residents. Otay Lakes is a predominantly Hispanic town in a predominantly white city, so I found it surprising to see this family and became a little bit curious about their origin and journey to this moment.
After observing the families, I decided to replace my boredom by going to the park’s structure swings. After five minutes of swinging, a little girl from one of the families I noticed joined next to me and uttered a “hi.” I responded, and then we both sat in silence for five minutes. She soon got off and joined her other younger family members.
As I was on the swing, I looked around and noticed the families to my right, the park structure in front of me and a nature trail to my left. At that moment, my thoughts returned to the family nearby, as I wondered who they were and where they were from. Quickly, my thoughts were interrupted when the little girl joined me on the swings once again and asked me “Do you want to be my friend?”
I was in a bit of shock as the realization hit me that this is how I used to make friends when I was little. I said yes, because I was not about to decline the opportunity for friendship, and then she asked if I wanted to go play catch with her. I agreed and we headed over to an open area. During our game of catch, I began asking her questions about her and her family, satisfying my curiosity. Below is the condensed conversation:
“What’s your name?” I ask. I forgot it, but I remember it was beautiful.
“Where are you from?” I ask, hoping I guessed right earlier.
“Afghanistan,” she replies. I guessed correctly.
“When did you come to the U.S?” I ask, trying not to be too intrusive.
She arrived in 2021 and says that her family came to provide a better education for their children. I was caught off guard as some momentary awareness hit me–so many people aspire to receive an education in a place that allows them to, and will travel across oceans to achieve this goal.
In an ecstatic tone I ask “Do you like school?”
“Yes. Mostly seeing my friends, but I like learning too,” she replied.
At this moment, I realized that so many people, especially children, do not have the right to receive an education, complete homework or even learn to read or write. And although school work can be strenuous, being able to live in a safe environment with the freedom to learn–no matter your ethnic background, gender or economic class–is so important and will always be sought after by those who do not have the same opportunity.
Much of the time, political and social regulations of certain countries dictate who can acquire education and what they learn about. It has become so normalized in these countries that when certain groups–like women or minorities–want an education, it is classified as taboo and unlawful. When these same groups of people try to achieve this in places that allow anyone to learn, they have the opportunity but not the support to improve and grow.
In the U.S., hate towards different ethnicities and cultures has become so prevalent that it has now become difficult for everyone to learn. If the concentration of xenophobia, which is discrimination of a person’s culture, nationality or ethnicity, increases, it will reach a level in which the U.S. no longer will be acknowledged for its freedom to learn and prosper.
Living in the U.S. my whole life, it seems my peers and I have forgotten what it means to have educational freedom and live in a society in which we are not suppressed or targeted for pursuing knowledge. Meeting this young girl not only showed me a life nothing like mine, but highlighted that everyone should be guaranteed an education and the ability to learn.
