Macaulay Honors College Seminar 2, IDC 3001H

Author: Raian Rahman

Artificial Perfection

We have throughout the semester and in the past few classes discussed the assimilation of immigrants into America. A common theme that was discussed was the theme of trying to change who you are to fit the group you are in. In my perspective, it is that many Americans expect perfection from others around them and in return immigrants that come to America try to fit into these norms. This is because of the growing culture of striving for perfection that grew in America. We refer this theme to people that have just immigrated but what about ourselves? For example, when we scroll through our Facebook feed, Instagram feed, or any other types of social media platforms we see pictures of friends who really don’t look the way that they appear. These pictures are of friends that have used filter after filter in this strive for perfection. I think when people think of assimilation they don’t think about this concept. Furthermore, transitioning from one area to the next we change ourselves and sometimes we don’t truly show who we are. When going from high school to college, there might be some things that we do, act, wear, or more to try our best to seem “perfect”. But, I’d argue that it is important for people especially immigrants to stick to their roots and to not be afraid to show the qualities in them that others may view as imperfect.

 

Perspective

Me, my brother, my sister, and my parents have worked together to help transition five families so far to New York City and we are currently working on bringing home a sixth. All my uncles and aunts were willing to change their lives completely and leave behind their past to come to America in hopes of allowing their children to have a greater opportunity to succeed. They believe that “only in America” would they have a chance to be in a system where hard work correlates with success. From just watching this transition, multiple times, within my family I was able to see this core belief. I recall multiple conversations that showed how because my cousins feel that they went through a hardship of coming to America, they believe that it would be a waste of time to not work hard in this nation. Why go halfway across the globe to only achieve mediocrity?

This relates to the YouTube video, “Stephen Fry and Craig Ferguson on America”, that was shown in class on Wednesday. Stephen Fry discusses how with an exception of the Native American and African American population; the rest of the population chose to come here. By choosing to come to this nation and taking a risk of leaving everything that you had in your previous nation, you develop a core belief of hard work. Only through hard work, would the journey across the globe be worth it. I’ve seen this belief within immigrants and I think the ambition that comes with this belief is passed on to those that were born here. In class on the 8th, many classmates agreed that since they grew up here, they didn’t have the risk taking and hard work mentality that Stephen Fry believed Americans have. But, I believe that this core value of hard work was translated to us. Almost all of within the Macaulay class of 2020 have parents or grandparents that immigrated to this country. We all push ourselves harder because we know how much hardship our parents went through and because of this we work not only for ourselves but we work to provide for them in the future.