In a world that’s become home to a myriad of diverse and expansive cultures, it leads one to wonder why it is that some face acceptance, while others face ignorance. It poses a question of why it’s seen as an effort to accommodate different ideas of thinking, rather than force assimilation. The United States, for example, was a country founded on immigrants who brought with them a diversity of thought and customs, yet the 21st century still sees persecution and prejudice of those who are considered “different.” In her contribution included in American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures, Reshma Saujani conveys what bravery truly means through lived experiences and the symbolism of a name in shaping identity.
Saujani’s commentary on bravery revolves around exploring the sacrifices and failures, rather than the successes, that allowed her to become the person she had always strived to be. Her parents, in particular, are a central source of understanding what shaped her growing up. Saujani’s use of an appeal to emotion highlights her parents' resilience as "brave immigrants" (Lines 35-36) who arrived from Uganda with very little. By detailing their journey, she establishes a foundation of courage that justifies her own risks and the bravery finds in herself now. This connection shifts the narrative from a simple list of political losses to her profound exploration of identity and heritage. Ultimately, she uses this emotional tie to show that her "bravery muscle" (Line 9) wasn't just built through her own failures, but was a legacy passed down through her family's determination to start over. Her bravery came from the actions and experiences of those long before her that would play an incomparable role in the way she would experience her own life later on.
Furthermore, Saujani creates a rhetoric encompassing the meaning of a name by framing it as a core focus in expressing the effect it had on her identity. The italicization of words in lines such as “I did it authentically, as myself, as Reshma” (Line 12) or “gave up their communities, their careers, their language, their own names” (Line 66) places an emphasis on the way a name can identify someone. It expresses that this one word that follows each person around throughout their life can have a profound effect on the way they see themselves; forcing someone to change a name to make them “more acceptable” to society strips away a unique piece of them. To Reshma, not changing her name, not making it “easier”, in the face of disapproval was a step towards being brave. She wouldn’t be able to stand up on a pedestal in front of millions of young girls and speak of bravery if she were elected to Congress, if she herself succumbed to the pressures of others and couldn’t stay true to her identity. Additionally, Saujani creates allusions interwoven with expressions of her name to display a way that the impact of names can be seen even in daily life. Her reference to “Sweet Valley Jessicas instead of Schaumburg Reshmas” (Lines 22-23) depicts a way that she grew up seeing the influence of names. The implication of Sweet Valley being a common setting for young adult novels proposes that Reshma didn’t see much representation of her own culture growing up, something that likely played into the concept of assimilation she mentions later in the text.
Through her reflection on identity through the lens of lived experiences and the meaning that a name can hold, Saujani defines bravery not as the absence of failure, but as the courage to remain visible in a society that often demands assimilation. By tying her identity to the legacy of her parents' sacrifices and refusing to compromise the "symbolism of her name," she transforms a personal narrative into a broader commentary on the American immigrant experience. Ultimately, Saujani suggests that true bravery lies in the rejection of "Key-Chain Rita" in favor of the authentic self. Her journey and experiences serve as an inspiration for not only Girls Who Code, but everyone who has ever had to compromise on their identity.
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