Meeting other people with shared experiences is critical to our sense of belonging. Selina Mei has this testament to the power of community.
Moving from Brazil to the United States at the age of 13, during the pandemic, was a monumental shift in my life filled with excitement, anxiety, and new challenges. My family’s decision to move brought promises of new opportunities and experiences, but it also presented obstacles that seemed impossible to overcome.
One of the most significant challenges that I faced was communicating with others, struggling to hold conversations in English. The language barrier was a major obstacle while adapting to my new school. I had been studying English since I was 9 years old, but engaging in a conversation with native speakers was an entirely different experience. In my first year back at school after the pandemic, I felt like an outsider. I would sit in class, surrounded by classmates chatting and engaging with one another while I stayed in silence, unable to start conversations. I often hesitated to attempt a conversation for fear of being judged or making a mistake while talking. Presentations and group discussions always felt terrifying to me, feeling unable to convey my opinions in another language.
Feeling isolated without any friends at school was the worst feeling. It affected my confidence, motivation, and mental health, making each day more challenging. However, I gradually started to break free of this bubble during my junior year. It was a classmate that reached out to me at first, we bonded over similar interests and similarities between us. We both are immigrants, which made it easier to connect as we understood our language barriers.