A Glimpse Into My Life

Introductions give me angst. Questions arise as I begin to introduce myself. Will they like me? How can someone recapitulate himself or herself in such a short paragraph? But I’ll stop rambling and get right to it.

My name is Tala Charbaji. My name, Tala, means a little palm tree in Arabic, and a star in Tagalog. I feel the meanings of my name are well suited to my personality. I am one who always sees potential for growth. Constantly looking for areas to improve and develop. Little palm trees have space to flourish and burgeon. A star shines bright. I for one am someone with beaming ambitions, continuously reaching for the stars. I aspire to study something in the field of psychology or biology. I am currently looking into neuroscience and child psychology. Often I can have a very rambunctious personality that may be better suited with children rather than adults. I have a very avuncular attitude that will hone my success in such a specialty. I may even study medicine. Who knows? But then again it’s such a rigorous and highly abstruse course. As you can tell I’m indecisive.

I was born and raised in Abu Dhabi, but I am originally Syrian. People may think that I am closed-minded due to being surrounded by the same culture and tradition for my whole life. However, surprisingly that’s not the case. I have been privileged enough to be exposed to several cultures, languages, ethnicities and nationalities. Raha, my school, has allowed me to meet people from all over the world and learn about the different ways of thinking and perceiving things. Despite that, I have managed to maintain my Arab roots and oblige with what I was raised to believe. Being in an international community has taught me how to accept other people’s opinions and ideas, yet still stand up for what I believe in. This enriched a sense of ambiguity in my character. Growing up in an international school made me realize that we might disagree on many things, but we all share one thing in common, which is language. The English language is the common denominator in our environment, in which enables us to express ourselves and acquire traits from one another. However, the down side may be that a few arriving students may still have poor English skills; this will create a language barrier that is tough to override.

Coupled with a primordial aspect of language which I feel is predominant is that language portrays culture. I speak Arabic, my mother tongue, and English. As a bilingual person I have noticed that the language I speak conveys the underlying cultural roots behind the language. The way people interact with each other drives the way the language works. Language may be seen as a verbal exhibition of culture. Once one is immersed in a language they will begin to notice that something you would say in one language may not be appropriate in another. My attitude diverges depending on the language I speak. Language in my opinion is a manifestation of culture, and that may be seen through the slightest gesture or even the speed at which one talks.

On a different note, just in case you’re interested to know what I do in my free time. Honestly, I attempt to be ubiquitous at social events and gatherings. However, I usually end up sitting at home reading Things Fall Apart, that’s what I did all summer at least. For real though, I enjoy horse riding, and hope to become really good one day.

The things I care about are as follows:

My family, my education, my religion, my friends and loved ones.  

Those are my priorities and most significant values in my life, which shape my character. And these are definitely aspects of my life that I would never immolate.