Me, Myself, and the World
How we can find a way to unite
I am a double major student of English Literature and Media Studies at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. I live in a country where media plays a great role in shaping the thoughts and lives of everyone. It even has an impact on those not exposed to the media directly because everyone around them is being brainwashed (for a better use of words affected) by the messages the media is projecting.
Nowadays, migration is a big issue and many lives and beliefs have been affected. What I personally care about most is how the Syrian refugee crisis opened up the door to our waste issue in Lebanon and how overloaded my country is now with people from three countries — Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, etc. — now living in just one. This is in addition to many other tourists and migrants from all over the world.
This doesn’t mean I hate the Syrians, but it just makes me even madder at my country’s government which can’t simply come up with a decision to solve such issues. I guess this is why when I talk about this issue with people around me I can get really serious and mad. This is bad.
How we can find a way to unite
I see my true self when I am with my three best friends who come from very different backgrounds. I have a Christian, a Muslim Sunni, and a Shi’a girl as best friends and though we come from completely different backgrounds and beliefs. We can see clearly how media portrays certain issues in favor of one side over the other and how they exaggerate certain issues that people care about, making the gap between them deeper and longer lasting. We choose to benefit from our differences rather than letting them separate us.
This personal narrative was written at the 2016 Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change. It exists as part of a digital publication which explores how personal stories and human connections can enable us and others to be more inclusive, responsive, and understanding of migrants and the socio-political-cultural impacts of migration.
