Language and Culture

Unlike many of my camp and Saturday school friends, I was not “raised” Armenian. I went to church and Saturday school growing up, I knew the Hayr Mer, and about the Armenian Genocide, but my life never centered around it. After my grandparents’ death, I felt an urge to  somehow keep their legacy alive. Their constant dedication to the Armenian cause became the way I embraced their legacy. The years following their death, I grew more and more Armenian. I went to an Armenian youth summer camp for four years as a camper, then again as a staff member to help guide the new generations of Armenians. I went back to Saturday school and did my best to keep up with my peers with the little Armenian I spoke. I go to church more frequently than I used to in an attempt to channel my grandparents back. 
I always feel so lucky to be apart of a community with such a strong faith and culture. I am blessed to have the ability first hand to keep this fading culture alive and to spread awareness about the people that tried to tear us down in the past. 
Though I feel so strongly to my Armenian side, I always feel guilty that I am not as ambitious about my Italian side. My mom is first generation American and her life has been heavily influenced by having immigrant parents. However, her parents never taught her italian or much of the italian culture because they wanted to badly for her to be American, for her to blend in. Being italian is a really important thing to me, especially hearing my grandparents childhood stories and how they ended up in America. 
Not only has my familys’ culture shaped me, but Walpole and Boston culture has definitely had an impact on how I’ve grown up. Having the name “Rebels” with the confederate flag forced me to think about those issues younger than more white kids would have to. I also have an unhealthy obsession with Dunkies (and apparently, the Boston area is the only place that calls it Dunkies). 

Having a culture that I have grown up with, and a culture that I learned more about over time has shaped my identity, as I don’t know who I would be without these major things.