Ariah

I am a 21-year-old currently residing in Berkeley in pursuit of a college degree. I have always wanted to write a book (many people have suggested that I do). This is one of the many things on my bucket list, but it is always just the matter of time and effort to make it into fruition. I suppose this intro will be an excerpt of my life in reflection. This Life I Live as an Adoptee.

There are so many life events; I don’t know where to begin in mine….I guess I’ll start from the beginning. I didn’t know about my past until I was about nine, when my mom and I took a family trip to China. It opened my eyes to my past and to the present. I was still fairly young to understanding the concept of adoption and everything that goes with it. Fast forwarding twelve years later and I’m now slowly coming to accept the fact I was “abandoned” by my family for various reasons, and that I had this new life I was trying so hard to fit into. What I can tell you from my own experience, is that being adopted was and still is the hardest thing one can go through. There are an infinite amount of unanswered questions and thoughts swirling through one’s mind. The beginnings will always remain a mystery but for me I kind of honor that, because I get to create my own story. Life is no doubt challenging, always filled with the ups and the downs of all the emotions under the sun, like pain, happiness, guilt, sorrow, and everything in between. Everyone has their own story, their own experiences of life’s stressful triggers mixed in with all the amazing wonders of life too. I could tell you that you’re never alone; no matter how isolated you may feel. I understand that sadness you have about all the things you are not, or of not being good enough no matter how hard you try; I understand because I have been there and have struggled ever since. However, time heals and with the cards I have been given in this life, it is worth it. 

I appreciate your time for reading and/or listening to my interview and my page. I hope what little I have offered to this project, has helped you in some way whether it be miniscule or not. This is not a lesson of how to live your life, it is my own self-reflections of how I have lived my life and have thought of my past. With love and admiration.