Personal Story

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Mehar

Mehar is a 6 year old little girl. I met Mehar during my Friends service project when she was 4 years old. She is of Indian descent and her family is working middle-class, but she also has family still in India. 

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Mehar is a very shy little girl. When I first met her, she looked at me with her big brown eyes and said "hi" very quietly. Over the course of my Friends project Mehar got more comfortable with me and one of her favorite things to do during the day was ask me to draw her a princess mermaid. I always drew the mermaid to look like her and colored her skin brown, which made her ecstatic and thoroughly surprised. "Is this me?!" she would ask. I replied, "Yes, you are a beautiful, brown princess."

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As I left for the end of the project, Mehar was very sad to see me go. I reassured her and told her that I would be back , gave her a hug, and said a temporary goodbye.

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When the time for the Anawim came around, I went back to Free To Bee for my service. As soon as I walked in the door, Mehar saw me. Her face lit up and she ran towards me and gave me a big hug. Immediately, Mehar asked me to draw her a princess mermaid again and when it came time to go inside for class, she grabbed my finger and led me to her class.

In class, Mehar did the class reading, helped lead games, and was the first one to line up for recess. Mehar even helped the 2 year old classes when she finished her work. It was amazing to see this little girl, whom was so shy before, but has now turned into a fierce 6 year old leader.

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I admire Mehar's work ethic as well because I see a piece of myself. She would always tell the other kids to get their work done, and they they could play. Whenever her dad came to pick her up, she would always say "Hi daddy, I finished all my homework". Mehar is a hard worker, a leader, and is compassionate towards others.

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Mehar talked to me about her dreams of becoming a lawyer because she loves to argue, prove others right, and help people. She always noted that through hard work, dedication, and passion, she would get there one day. I said "Mehar I am very proud of you and you can do anything you set your mind to." The light in her eyes was inspiration to me because if a 6 year old has big dreams and goals set out, I can as well as anyone else who sets their minds to it can succeed. Mehar didn't care that she was a little brown Indian girl, she was going to achieve and live her dreams regardless of the systems and institutions that try to limit her.

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