Indian | Sri Lankan
Indian culture especially is steeped in colourism, just look at the number of 'lightening creams' you can get. Because of my Mum, I am relatively fair, so I have never really been subjected to any prejudice because of that, but I think the recent world events have really forced me to confront my own culture and take a long look at what I can do to help. Sometimes it can be hard to have those conversations with people in your life, especially if they're quite old, you never quite know when to draw the line. It's important to have those conversations though, because it's not just the older generations with those views.
I sometimes feel like I am two people, I never really know which one is the true me. I am not close with my parents, I don't say that like it's a bad thing, just that I don't think they need to know about what's going on in my life. I definitely hide a lot from them. With my friends I'm a lot more open. I am lucky to have a really solid friendship group from school. I'd trust those guys with my life, but they're the kind of people whose families have lived in the same country for generations, so sometimes it's hard to articulate certain things to them. It's easier to talk to someone when they can relate to what you're saying, and sometimes you just avoid those conversations with people because it's less effort than trying to explain.
Coming to @cambridgeuniversity, I was suddenly seen as 'different', that feeling from 10 years ago definitely resurfaced, but this time I was old enough to decide I wasn't going to run away from who I am anymore. Over the last couple years I have begun to accept that being mixed is a positive thing, I should stop trying to hide parts of who I am just because it lets me 'fit in'. People don't talk about the positives of being mixed-race enough. I get to experience twice the amount of culture, get to exist in twice the amount of spaces, relate to twice the amount of people. So often the narrative around being mixed-race is how hard it can be, the difficulties, the struggles, so it's nice to celebrate it.
Studying Engineering at University of Cambridge
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