Performing with a Purpose
Within a matter of months, Joe Kye had gone from teaching English in a high school classroom to playing his music at open mics in local dive bars.
Tag: immigrant
Blind Faith in a Better Life
“Blue eyes, mustache, tall! I loved him,” says Anna Giurgiev. “And I still do.” She smiles, describing how she met her husband, Sava, when he waited on her
Listen When the Heart Sings
Not many men would invite their ex-fiancée to their wedding, but Vikram Srinivasan invited his. After all, she was his best friend in high school and stood by him
The Hard Way Can Be What Saves You
Yamini Rajan was 12 the first time she heard her father cry. With tears rolling down his cheeks, he saw the scars covering Yamini’s thighs and arms.
Embrace All Your Cultures
It was her teachers, violinist Inés Voglar says, who gave her the courage to do what she loved the most and to trust that success would follow.
Love at First Sight—with Medicine
Growing up in Kyiv, Ukraine with a mathematician father and physicist mother, Tetyana Odarich was expected to follow in her dad’s footsteps.
Sketching a Life in Secret
Nothing about the financial world interested Sarah Rikaz. The only tie she could find between her passion and the career her parents wanted for her was
For the Love of Mozart
It’s the late 1980s in Taipei, Taiwan. Every week, four-year-old Ruby Chen ventures with her mother from their storefront apartment to the local Yamaha Piano store
Why Her Accent Became a Mask
When Onyeka Azike journeyed from Nigeria to America to attend Portland’s Reed College, she believed she would fulfill a childhood dream.
Upsetting the Status Quo
Contrary to the unobtrusive lifestyles of most immigrants, blending in has never been a priority for Victor Maldonado. Behind his signature blue mask,
Let Nothing Hold You Back
Beneath the star-studded sky of Makamba, Burundi, 6-month-old Olive Bukuru clung to her father’s hip as they fled on foot for roughly 100 miles to Tanzania.
The Gift of New Opportunities
Growing up, Zsusana Vamos always loved stories of Marie Curie, so when she got her first job doing cancer research in Budapest, she was excited
The Strength within Yourself
Instead of a novel, Brianda Alcazar would sneak her geometry book into her room at night and wait till her parents were in bed so she could turn on the […]
Laughing through the Years
Janet Liu is no stranger to a life shaped by history. Or rather, a history shaped by her life. But her rolling laughter and raw honesty reveal that she remains […]
The Quran, Baghdad, Iraq
Zahra AlKaabi: When I left my country Iraq in 2000, I left everything behind, my photos, my personal stuff, my memories because I just wanted to forget everything about my […]