In this episode, I sit down with my  friend Andrea and talk about her experiences growing up a first generation American. We discuss the struggles and strengths that she’s developed being a first generation American and how it’s led to other passions in her life. Some  struggles include being the first in her family to experience the American college experience and the different hurdles associated with the application process. 

In addition, having to be away from her home country of Lebanon and the close knit family she has there has presented struggles to find a similar community in the United States.  But, these experiences have allowed her to become a stronger and more independent individual who seeks to turn her struggles into strengths. 

She has been able to do that by deciding to major in political science and minor in peace and justice and women and gender studies. Through learning about these topics, she discusses how advocacy has become a very important part of her life and  how she approaches disagreement in an ever changing society. We not only gain understanding into how these issues are brought to attention in the U.S., but how the dynamic differs in Lebanon.  By giving us this insight, we are able to see for ourselves how we can make a difference in our own lives.