She Felt Like An Outsider
But it was not easy for her either. She shared, “Despite all their love and hard work, as a kid, I remember feeling as though I couldn’t culturally catch up to my peers. Especially when it came to beach towels—these really stupid, but really cool, but actually really stupid towels. All my classmates owned these colorful beach towels with Disney characters on them. I desperately wanted one, but instead, I had this orange and white patterned thing, a glorified Slavic doily—that my parents brought with them from Uzbekistan. To me, it was a smoke signal alerting all potential friends that I was NOT. FROM. HERE.”
She Felt Like An Outsider
Taking Pride In Her Heritage
The photo below shows the visa used by Milana and her mom when they went to the United States. At the time, she was too young to acquire a visa of her own, which was why she came with her mom. Sadly, she also could not remember Uzbekistan. It was a good thing that her parents ensured that Russian culture was present in the house. They spoke Russian in the house and continue to do so to this day.
Taking Pride In Her Heritage
