#armahn rassuli

[humansofvirginiatech]

"I was born in Guatemala and came here when I was 10 years old. My dad is a hairstylist and he has been cutting hair since he was really young. He started to become more recognized for it and began to make more money. In Guatemala, the more money you have their the more it becomes dangerous. People will take family members in exchange for money. My dad is very family oriented and wanted to make sure everyone was safe. So he decided to move to the US and start a business over here. We ended up selling everything in Guatemala, I was 10 so I had a bunch of toys that I sold and we gave it all away, packed one bag and came here. With everything we sold in Guatemala we were able to open up a hair salon here when we moved. As a family we worked together to make the shop ready and open it up. I was a little kid with a giant wax machine trying to help out, it was good experience, starting over again."

[humansofvirginiatech]

"During my childhood, I never really realized how much my parents sacrificed to give my siblings and I a better future, one they couldn't obtain in Mexico. I remember when I used to wait for my dad to come back home after a long day of work, tired and starved. It pains me on what he had to go through just to provide my family with basic necessities. As the only Hispanic in my elementary and middle school, I tried really hard to fit in, which distanced me from appreciating my culture. I wish I stood up to the people that bullied me instead of trying to fit into their expectations. It wasn’t until the winter of 6th grade when I started to embrace my culture, after visiting Mexico. I fell in love with the culture, the heritage and I gained an appreciation of where I come from, which helped me become more confident. Back then, I used to be embarrassed when people asked where I came from because of their judgments and preconceived notions. Now since I have grown as a person, one saying my family and I go by is, never forget where you came from, which I am keeping true to."

[humansofvirginiatech]

"To people with stereotypes of undocumented immigrants. I know when they hear undocumented, it could be really scary, and they might think that I'm not part of the system but in reality I am. You can look up my name and find me anywhere. You'll find me here at Virginia Tech, you'll see my name pop up in my elementary school through high school, and all the community service hours I've done. I am here. I'm not here to take anyones job they don't want, I'm not here to steal anything, or vandalize anything. There is literally no point in doing that. You don't just come to a country just to commit crimes. 99% of the time it's to improve your life and your families life and that's why my family came here. My father told me he didn't want me to relive what he went through in Mexico, he wanted me to have a better life. And I'm very grateful for that."

[humansofvirginiatech]

"Over the summer, my friend and I were talking about how we wanted to do something about the global refugee crisis. Although we weren’t sure exactly how to help, we started asking around when we returned to Blacksburg in August. We discovered that a sizable refugee population lived in Roanoke. We contacted a few families from Sudan, Syria, and Egypt and began to visit them for a few hours every week. At first, our main goal was to offer English language practice. It eventually became a friendship, so we would visit the families the same way we’d visit a friends house. Part of the reason I wanted to help the local refugee population was because of my parents. It still amazes me that they left their whole life in Lebanon, including families, friends, and jobs, to immigrate to the United States in the 80s. They essentially said goodbye to one home at the risk of never finding another. Like the refugee families, they slowly created a new home for themselves by forming relationships with the people surrounding them. I’m grateful that my parents’ sacrifice gives me the opportunity to welcome others into our community.”

[humansofvirginiatech]

"Once you move out, once you see more cities, and move from town to town. There is something that you lose, its like this feeling of belonging. When I moved from Brazil, there were things I began to miss from there. Now if I move from here back to Brazil, there will be things I miss from this place. It's kind of funny. A friend of mine who moved here was once telling me how he was upset and how he missed his home in Brazil. I told him that he will never have that feeling of home again. Because everywhere you go now, you'll miss something from the last place. You won’t feel complete. You plant a seed of yourself wherever you go. I see myself as a citizen of the world now, the world is my home. I'm not just tied to Brazil or a small town in southwest Virginia. And I love that. I like the feeling, even though it is a shocking feeling at first, arriving in a whole new place. But it is a moment of growth, I begin to think of what I can discover and what new things I can do. And the more I travel and discover, the more I will want to keep traveling and discovering. People always ask me what will I do after I graduate; will I go back to Brazil? I say I actually want to move to more countries before I settle down somewhere because it’s so fun and I want to discover more perspectives."

[humansofvirginiatech]

“I moved to the US from Mongolia when I was 11 years old. My mom’s friend had already settled in America and she helped us get an apartment and move into our own place. We were above the legal limit of people that were supposed to be in one bedroom because there were four of us and so our landlord called the police on us. It was a shocking moment because we never expected the police to knock on our doors and we couldn't communicate with them. They were intimidating. So we ended up moving out and into a different place which was difficult since my parents didn’t have stable jobs yet. It took about 3 months and during that time we lived in our mom’s coworkers house till we finally were able to move into our own place. The language barrier was a difficulty when we first moved. None of my family members spoke English. My sister and I had a chance to go to school and learn English but my parents weren't able to learn it well. And I feel sad in a way because it prevents my parents from showing their great personality and express themselves. I see them treated badly because of racism. They can’t say anything back because they don’t understand it. Sometimes, when I am back in Mongolia, I feel American and when I'm in America I feel Mongolian. I have this identity crisis going on. I am like a hybrid cultured kid. I feel American when I'm there because people can be pretty closed-minded over there since it’s a really homogeneous population. People are not very exposed to diversity like the LGBT community, different races, or backgrounds. But here I feel Mongolian because people are more individualistic so it seems like if something doesn't go your way, there is no one to blame but yourself. In Mongolia people consider other factors when things don't go their way. Also in America, I feel more in touch with my Mongolian side because there you never really think 'Wow I'm Mongolian' due to the lack of diversity. I am really happy about this identity crisis because it puts everything into perspective and maybe I would not be the same person I am today if it weren’t for my parents seeking better opportunities for my sister and me."

[humansofvirginiatech]

"What are some moments that make you proud to be an advisor to students?"

"I had one student who came to Tech; he was a party animal and didn't care. He dropped out and somewhere along the way he friended me on Facebook. I don't think he was sober when he did that — maybe he was at a bar. Anyway, he joined the marines, came back and finished his degree. Now he has two kids, we are still friends and it’s wonderful.

I had another student who joined DC United Soccer team this year; he was in Chicago Fire for a few years and just started with DC United this past season. A lot of my athletes I still stay in touch with.

One girl got arrested for a driving incident early on and then she went and taught in Africa for a semester. She came back, knew she wanted to be a teacher and finished up in great shape. She taught in inner city Atlanta for a while and now she is teaching up in Maryland; she loves it. She is doing fabulous things. So, success stories like these stick with me and I stick with those people. These stories make me proud of my job."

[humansofvirginiatech]

"It’s rough when all of your hair and every single part of your face is exposed and you don’t recognize yourself in the mirror. I avoided mirrors all the time, and it’s a scary thing when you get your entire appearance taken away from you. That’s what a lot of people identify as their identity, but no, its your character, and I never changed as person. I was saying, you don't need a mirror to know who you are and a lot of people our age don't necessarily know that. You should be able to know who you are and stick to your true self without needing to look the part. I never wore a wig, I rocked the bald, but it’s been interesting how people have responded, and the acts of kindness people have done. I have so many stories of what people have done for me and my family throughout this. It’s definitely shown me that, in a world of craziness, especially now, there is a lot of good in the world. And I was very happy to see that throughout this process and I see it every day.

Honestly, death never crossed my mind once. I feel like it’s so associated with cancer. It was more like, well okay, life is happening right now. My entire family has never been dealt with a medical situation like this ever, let alone a broken bone. Yet there we were, and it was just shocking to everybody. I'm young, I'm healthy, I'm a college student, it's very very random. I was just like, 'I gotta do what I gotta do and it’s going to get better and I'm going to stay driven and optimistic. It is what it is.' I've always been an optimistic and positive person. I don't think cancer made me change much in that regard. It made me more appreciative of life and more passionate about living. Negativity just wasn't an option for me."