LoNeLiNeSS

 

One of the loneliest period since my life was a sixth grader because of my "otherness"  But I am not alone in my loneliness! Even brilliant celebrities have felt lonely because of their difference. One such person is Thandie Newton,  (born 6 November 1972)  an English actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films.

In her speech titled "Embracing Otherness, Embracing Myself" Newton discusses feeling different and other as a student because she was the only atheist in a Catholic. She was also the only black girl in her all-white neighborhood. Her religion and race made her feel out of place.

This feeling of "otherness" happened to me in  1996 when I moved to Suriname from Haiti. I was different from everyone else in my sixth grade class. But the difference was not because I was black since there were a lot of black people in the classroom, nor my age since most of the students were my age.The biggest issue was the language.  I came from a French speaking country and landed in a Dutch speaking country. 

I felt defined by my "otherness" which  made me feel fear, shame, shyness and hopelessness.I was surrounded by many classmates, yet I felt very lonely because I as stranger. As a stranger, I began to believe that there is some thing wrong, that I didn't fit. But wanted to fit in, to belong with my classmate.  

In my experience, once I learned the language, I was able to communicate, play with my classmates, so I didn't feel lonely. I could interact with my peers. I could learn to fit in by learning the language. 

Luckily for me in Suriname, I could learn to speak Dutch. In that case, I could remove the obstacle.  Language different are definitely a source of otherness, making people feel lonely.  But this difference  can be changed. It might be difficult, but I know from my experience that the work of learning Dutch helped me fit in.

 .