Being a person with an extremely diverse background has shaped the person I am today.

Armenian, Russian and Canadian culture are the three main cultures that i carry as i was born in

Armenia, grew up in Russia and then moved to Canada in 2003.

In my family there are five people, I am the oldest child. Growing up my mom was the one

who was always working and supporting our family. My dad had a job but half of his pay would do

towards alcohol. After couple years my mom got tired of that, and when I turned six my parents got

divorced. When my mom was only sixteen years old she lost both of her parents on Earthquake in

Armenia. Loosing her parents impacted her life a lot, she lived alone with her fifteen years old

sister, because of lack of love my mom had she end up marrying when she was only nineteen

years old. My dad had a big family , parents and 5 brothers. My dad’s father past away before I

was born. So I have never had a grandfather and only have one grandmother till present day. My

aunt Sofia moved to capital of Russia, to go to university to be a fashion designer. My mom , my

younger sister Liana and I moved to Central Asia, in hopes to find better life and also be away

from my dad. We lived there for few years, my mom got married . We were one happy family . In

2003 my step dad and my mom decide to move to Canada . We got a new member to your family

brother David. That’s where my life was complete.

My dad and his family were born in Armenia, same with my mom’s family. I was also born

and Armenia but raised in Russian. I am a pure Armenian girl.

I am a student at Halifax West High School, I will graduate in June 2009. My plans for my

future is to go to university study international business for my major and for my minor to study

sociology.

I have been very healthy person till age of fifteen. Since then I have been sick very often, I

had surgery, chicken pox, and been sick every winter none stop. But other than that I still consider

my self a healthy person. I eat healthy, trying to follow Canada’s food guide.

I come from middle class family, my dad is a business man. He sells BNW cars all over Russia,

and also owns shoe company and convenience stores. My mom for now she is a stay

home mom, but she went to cooking school we used to own a restaurant back home, my step dad

is a doctor, and I also as many teenagers have part time job at Bentley luggage store.

I was born in Armenia , but raised in Russia since I was few month old. My dad’s family

are very traditional his family lived in Russia for many year but yet they speak Armenian at home

and with each other. In my house I speak Russian and also understand Armenian language, my

third language would be English.

I live in a very friendly and quit neighbourhood . Everything very close to my house such

as bus stops, mall, grocery stores, wal-mart, schools , gas station etc. There are also a lot of parks

around where my little brother can play and so and many other kids.

Being a girl of Armenian Christian descent has played a big role on making up the person

I am today. After moving to Russia, I also adapted to the culture there a bit as well. Generally, an

Armenian girl is expected to be more conservative and in Russia it was the opposite, therefore I

had found a happy medium. After moving to Canada, I still carried the same values with me. I have

adapted to Canadian culture as well and being a girl in Canada I think gives you much more

freedom than a lot of other countries so I am thankful for that. For example, in Canada I can spend

time with as many of my male friends as I want and I know I won’t have to worry about people

judging and known families immediately talking to my parents about it as if it were an issue. All in

all, from experience, I think that your status as a certain gender, varies depending on the society

you are surrounded by.

Even thought my family does not go to church very Sunday , but yet I think we are

religions family . In my opinion religion is not a big deal, its just a label there is only one God. My

step dad is from Afghanistan he is Muslim and so is my brother. My mom, sister and I are Christian

Orthodox. We do follow every religions holidays and know do pray sometimes.

I consider my self very athletic. I used to play Basketball, Badminton in Junior High and

Soccer first year of High School. I also love to read on my free time. I love working with numbers

as well.

As I mention already my status is I am a grade twelve student at Halifax West High School

and also have part time job at Bentley , I have been working there for almost a year. My first job

was at Fairweather.

I come from traditional family and want one day to have husband and kids. At age twelve

first time I believe I got attracted to boys. As growing up I always thought that boy should go out

with girls , that’s how it should have been for everyone. But now since I older and I mature to

understand that people are different, and have different feelings towards different genders.

After everything I have said about my life I am very proud to say who I am and where I

come from. I believe my family raised me well.