Beza Fisseha
Beza Fisseha, a strategic communications major, doesn’t put herself in a box and says she’s proud of all the identities that make her who she is. Her parents are immigrants from Ethiopia. They encouraged her to achieve the things they didn’t have the opportunity to do.
“I decided to enroll because growing up my parents always told me that school comes first. My parents never went to school, so they wanted me to get an education that they never had the opportunity to get. Growing up, my parents always said, ‘You have to go to school.’ They said, ‘We can’t help you if you don’t go.’ That’s why I decided to go.
My parents used to say, ‘Don’t come home from school until you understand what you’re learning.’ I had to be there and I had to learn.
The biggest part of my identity is being Ethiopian. That’s where my parents are from. I always feel proud of where I’ve come from. I love to tell people I’m Ethiopian. That’s where my heart lies. That’s my home. I don’t ever put myself in a box and say I’m one set thing, but it’s one thing I do always know. It’s my heritage.
It means a lot to have the opportunity and the privilege to go to school. My parents are helping me with my tuition, like doing everything. The least I can do is get a degree.
I just got an internship this summer at an agency in Minneapolis. And it made me sit back and realize how hard I had to work to get where I am. I think about my parents and how they work 10 times harder. And they didn’t have as many opportunities as I do. They came here and didn’t have their parents to support them. My mom came here before my dad did, and she was hustling. And then my dad came here, and he had to hustle the second he got here. I have my parents uplifting me, so with that support, I’m accomplishing things. To see my parents do so much with so little is crazy.
I wish people would recognize that it’s hard — the responsibility and pressure. Especially if you’re the only child or if you’re the oldest, there’s so much pressure on you to be the role model. I was telling my parents what a document means, and I’m eight years old. My mom would get something in the mail and ask me. “What does this mean? What does that mean?” I don’t even know. I’m taking on the pressure to make sure my parents understand what they’re reading and what they’re receiving. And making sure they’re doing things right, like filling out applications correctly….I’m making sure the school forms are getting sent home, and I’m making sure they fill it out. It’s just a lot. I feel like I wish people would understand how much pressure we have. And we don’t have as many things coming in from our parents.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interviewed by Ariana Valentin