Chia Uzuegbunam

Hi guys! My name is Chia. Nigerian American is my nationality. Living in a Nigerian American household, I naturally learned my family’s native language. Because I am a descendant of the Igbo tribe, my family speaks Igbo, so conversing in Igbo at home is not an uncommon thing. I learned this language fully when I lived in Nigeria for two years. From the ages of seven years old to nine years old, my parents sent my brothers and I to live in the village with my elderly grandmother who couldn’t and still cannot speak English. When you are a young child and you and your primary care giver can’t communicate effectively, you eventually start to learn the language. While living in Nigeria, I was able to experience things children in America would never dream of. Attending a school that would spank you publically if you failed to pay your school fees is a shocking experience that no one could forget. However, I was able to experience the hard work people in my village did everyday just to be able to survive, such as carrying a 20 gallon container of water from the spring pump to the house, on their head, in order to drink clean water. However, seeing the hardships that the people around me went through made me value the things I took for granted.