It was at least 3 decades ago when my uncle decided to embark on a journey that many have romanticized through garnishments of riches and fabrications of pleasure. It was the voyage to The United States that intrigued my uncle just as the illusive voyage to India did to Christopher Columbus. However, unlike Columbus, my uncle knew where he was going and had a tangible plan upon reaching the States.

My uncle, about 23 at the time, excelled at his university in Bangladesh and had a plethora of career options to look at. Further, My uncle grew up in a modest upbringing in the suburban parts of Bangladesh. His father had raised 4 sons, my father and 3 of my uncles, as well as 2 daughters, my aunts. With my grandfather’s struggles of having to provide for such a huge household, the pressure was piled on my uncle to capitalize on his talents by being a doctor to help alleviate some of the hardships and perhaps even bring some felicity. Additionally, a doctor in Bangladesh around the 70’s was known to be venerable and affluent, two very prominent and desirable characteristics to my grandfather. Conversely, my uncle decided to take a chance with his talent and do something radical at the time, find his passion.

A radical to my family was a person who decided to diverge from the family’s aspirations and instead pave a path for them. Blinded by his potential and talent, my uncle turned into a radical when he decided not to be a doctor but to pursue interests that he had sporadically. These interests came in the form of pharmacy and drug manufacturing, engineering and at one point even becoming a marine. As time progressed, and as it seemed that my uncle had exhausted of his ambitions, he startled the family again by voicing his desire to come to the United States in search of working for a big company and seeking a better life. The only problem was that this required adequate funds, as it would be difficult for my uncle to settle in a new nation and foster his dreams while having thorny expenses and other restrictions. Nonetheless, my uncles’ brothers, including my father, decided to fund his dream with their hopes of not only gaining something materialistic but also a stronghold in the capricious America through my uncle.

As years passed, my uncle became very tech savvy with skills in computer science as well as what was a booming field at the time, pharmacy. Also at the time, my uncles’ siblings became curious and decided to travel to different parts of the world such as Europe and the United States. My father decided to come to United States to understand the culture as well as to seek the infamous riches. His first steps in this country were still selfless as he lived with some other family and close friends in Texas where he worked blue-collar jobs in order to further fund my uncle’s education. Additionally, all this led to my Uncle pursuing pharmacy and starting his own Pharmaceutical Company.

As time progressed, my father came to settle in New York because of the euphoric landscape. From the bright lights and innovative high raises to the different cultures evident, my father immediately felt relaxed and was at “home”. Perhaps this “home” may not have been the orthodox definition but New York allowed my father to feel appreciated and to fit in perfectly. From residing in Brooklyn for a couple of years, my dad finally started to develop changes in his accents and mentality. Furthermore, the city made him more mature and understanding. Perhaps that level of maturity and complexity was what attracted him to my mother. Consequently, my father left the United States and came back to Bangladesh to get married and shortly went back to the states to convene his life where he left off.

With my mother, my father decided to live in an apartment at Church Avenue, Brooklyn because the rent was affordable, the amenities were close by and because of the congenial nature of the town. After a while of associating with others, sharing bits of our culture from Bangladeshi cuisine to hospitality, my parents began to find good friends in the town and started to develop a convivial reputation. My parents grew even more comfortable of Church Avenue, Brooklyn when my dad’s sister and her family as well as my dad’s older brother decided to move in. All of a sudden such a foreign place became very familiar with close knitted ties everywhere just like back home in Bangladesh.

I was born on October 18^th 1996. I was told it was a Friday. I am glad it was. I love Fridays. I also loved the fact that my upbringing was very stable in a congenial atmosphere with family and some friends. Having family close by was always interesting and it kept me entertained until they moved out to more opulent parts of the city. When that happened, I started to feel like my father did when he first arrived in this country by realizing how difficult it was to being comfortable in an area where our race and culture was not prominent. I remember the difficulty that I had when it came to inviting friends over and going to their houses. However, living in Brooklyn was interesting and it outweighed some of the difficulties I had because of the little niche that my dad created for us in Church Avenue.

If I thought there were some aspects of living in Brooklyn that were difficult, I was in for a shock when my dad decided to buy a larger house in New Jersey and relocate our family there. Despite living in an affluent setting with a larger house as well as with more resources, living in New Jersey was very mundane and uninteresting. One of the key differences between New York and New Jersey was the lack of closeness that New Jersey had. Further, a lack of a community, like the one we were apart of in Brooklyn, made my parents see the consequences of living in big house in rural areas. Additionally, we moved around 2005 and finding jobs was a lot more difficult because there were not many businesses located in suburban areas and in order to find a good paying job, one would have to travel far. Consequently, although the tangible aspects of life may have been more favorable in New Jersey, my parents decided that living in New York was more pleasant. This time my parent’s sights were set on Queens.

I am glad that my family decided to relocate back to New York. Living in Queens, I was able to see the eclectic mixture of cultures again. Queens is known for being one of the most diverse cities in the United States. I was able to see that stat through seeing the South Asian culture in Jamaica, Queens, Russian and Eastern European cultures in Briarwood, Queens as well as South American and Caribbean influences in Hollis, Queens.

We have lived in Queens for nearly a decade and it has become the longest I’ve stayed anywhere. My family’s curiosity in life pushed them to move across continents. Because, we live in a globalized world today entailing global resources anywhere, I might not have to leave the United States for a better life. But that’s not going to tame my curiosity. Perhaps my curiosities will one-day lead me to create innovations in my passion, healthcare.