Feelings on "The Toughest Indian In The World" - Alema

Hello friends,

Today I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings relating to The Toughest Indian In The World. Touching on the theme of adversity, I wanted to share stories from my family that have helped me to overcome my own trials.

The fall of 2008 our family moved from the islands of Western Samoa back to the United States. I was born in San Diego, CA, and moved to Samoa when I was 7, and so it had been 5 years since we had been back to the States. It was like a double culture shock. First moving to a third-world country, and then again moving back into the rush of modern nation.

When we first got off the plane in Arizona, we only had two boxes of clothes that came with us. Everything else was left in Samoa. Our family, friends, etc. It was like starting from scratch all over again. We missed Samoa so much! But our parents moved us back to the States for better education, and opportunities that we would never have had in the islands. This was a big change, but we made the most of it. I mean we were in the USA! What could be that bad, right?

Our parents were our role models. They did not have any jobs, so they started work where ever there was an opening. I remember my mom walked to work at Goodwill every morning to be a cashier. She was so good at her job; she was the best cashier ever!

The first few months were a crash course in 'American' everything from buying Go-Gurts because they were the 'cool' thing to eat, to understanding who Hannah Montana was. We stayed in a small apartment with our aunty and her family. Altogether, there were 12 people in the apartment. Yup, everybody had to get real comfy ahaha. My face loves carpet guys...

So long story short, we went through a rough patch starting off, but with time and consistent effort we made it work. We have seen the blessings from our trials, and the adversities our family went through have made our love stronger. It all worked out, and we love the memories we have had so far together in this great country. And I made it to Stanford #blessed #samoatostanford #hashtag lol.