Features
From Where I Sit: Hamilton’s International Perspectives, Nejla Asimovic '16
By Nejla Asimovic ’16
April 14, 2016
Tags features
for·eign: strange and unfamiliar; introduced from an outside source
On March 19, I was celebrating my nephew’s first birthday and spending the second week of my spring break in Istanbul with my family. The celebration was wonderful, until it was overshadowed by the tragic news that a suicide bombing had taken place in one of Istanbul’s central shopping districts. Six days earlier, on the March 13, more than 35 people were killed and 100more injured by a car bomb that exploded in the heart of Turkish capital, Ankara. On March 22, there was yet another devastating attack, this time at the airport and a metro station in Brussels, which killed more than 30 people. At the Istanbul airport, as I boarded a plane bound for New York City just one day after the attack in Brussels, I could not stop thinking about the far-reaching geopolitical consequences that these attacks may have. Moreover, threats of closing borders and turning our backs to each other made me think about how much the openness of the world and inter-cultural exchanges benefited me and affected who I am today. As you may have guessed by now, I am majoring in world politics.
I was born in Kosovo (now an independent country, at the time part of Serbia), but my family moved to Bosnia in 1998, when NATO launched its bombing air campaign. Bosnia had problems of its own, and was still recovering from the Bosnian War and the 1995 genocide. Yes, the ’90s were not a great time for the republics of the former Yugoslavia. People were hung up on dividing into their own countries and the consequential political disputes brought with them the mass-murder of people over ethnic differences. The wars were complex, to say the least (unnecessary is another word that comes to my mind), but behind all the politics and economics was the oldest reason to fight in the Balkans: religion. Therefore, from an early age I became aware of the devastating consequences that focusing on our differences can bring. From my perspective today as a young adult, growing up in the Balkans accelerated my transition from a very young child into a very aware teenager, and helped me become accustomed to the idea of politics as one of the most important determinants of human security. Somewhere along the away, I realized that the most powerful and valuable weapon I could acquire was to study at a renowned institution of higher education in the United States.
So, here I am today, an international student at Hamilton College. Hamilton’s percentage of international students might not be high, but we come from all across the world. My first and closest friend since day one on this campus is Tina from Bulgaria; I deeply admire the amazing work that my Ethiopian friend Tsion does; I have the most interesting political conversations with Ming from Hong Kong; and my Kenyan friend Leonard and Georgian friend Luka never fail to bring a smile to my face with their positive attitudes. On the other hand, my roommates come from across the United States and I have loved every moment we have spent living together. Learning about the differences in the ways we grew up or the values that we cherish the most has always been intriguing and exciting, and has shattered even the tiniest of the prejudices we may have had about each other.
We all become better by not being afraid of the foreign, but by being open to it. As a senior looking back at my four years at Hamilton, I am amazed by how much my viewpoints have broadened, and how much I have learned from the personal stories of all of my friends and acquaintances I made during my time in the U.S. My junior year, during which I studied abroad in Spain and Washington, D.C., was an equally rewarding experience that showed me how intrinsically similar we all are, regardless of where we come from. That does not mean that our cultures, values or habits are the same (I am still not used to having dinner before 9 p.m. and, after a few failed tries, I gave up on learning the rules of American football). What it does mean is that everyone across the globe seeks acceptance, support and opportunities to live a dignified life. Now more than ever we must not be led by fear, as nothing good can ever result in letting our differences define us and divide us. Trust me, coming from the Balkans, I do know. So, next time you meet someone with a background different from yours, I hope you stop and truly listen to what that person is saying. What you hear may challenge your views and, while their words and ideas may not change the world, they might change you. And that’s a good start.