“You are so lucky to live in a part of the world where your ethnicity does not weigh you down.” It is hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that in certain parts of the world uncontrollable factors such as race, religion, and gender lock you into a caste.

My grandmother is Jewish and lived in the Soviet Union for most of her life until she moved to the United States in 1992 with my grandfather. When she was growing up she was always at the top of her class, getting a 5 (maximum grade) on every assignment in every class. She took her studies very seriously and thoroughly prepared for every exam. She had to know more than what was expected ofher because she needed her work to be flawless. If there were any flaws they were exploited by the teachers and massive amounts of points were taken off. “There were some teachers that were basically waiting for me and the other Jewish kids to slip up so that they could give us the worst possible marks and they could tell which ones of us were Jewish just by glancing at our names on the attendance sheet,” she said.

“Oral exams were blatantly unfair. The professor would walk around the room and call you by your last name. You would stand up and they would ask you a question, if you got it right they would give you credit and tell you to sit down. When I stood up my professor would ask me questions that were levels above our curriculum. I would answer correctly and he would continue to ask incredibly difficult questions until he was satisfied.” Against all odds my grandmother stayed at the top of her class and was given the “Gold Medal” which is scholarship given to top students.

After leaving college, my grandmother looked for a job but was turned away from most places due to her ethnicity. “Our kind were not accepted and there was nothing you could do about it because the government was on theirside,” she said. My grandmother and my grandfather moved to a man-made island called Rusanovka where my grandmother got a job as an architect. “There was still racism there, there was racism everywhere,but there were enough Jewish communities there that you could find a suitable job.”

“I could have accomplished so much moreif I wasn’t held back but I’m happy with how my life turned out. My only wish now is for you to utilize the gifts that living in America has given you and achieve everything you want in life.”