Walid StoryMap – Geography 210: Geographic Dimensions of Human Development

The globalized life that I have today is thanks to the people who have raised me: my father and my mother. My father’s family hails from the oldest group within Mecca. Whereas my mother’s family hails from an old group in Southern Lebanon. However, both have made long strides from home to get to their location today, they both currently reside outside of the nation where they were both born and combined speak more than nine languages. They both hold a different nationality, which gives me the advantage of being a dual citizen. Both told me that to truly appreciate home and grow up you need to leave it; hence I have been living the last seven years of my life away from home. They sent me to boarding school in the Alps of Switzerland and to college half the world away in Richmond VA, where I presently reside. Through this project, I’ve tried to show the link between both sides of family by the lives of my parents have lived and how it has brought me here today. I believe that in every conceivable manner, the family is the link to our past and the bridge to the future.

Victoria Williams says:

October 1, 2015 at 2:13 pm

It is a very interesting story and was well told. Your overall story connects with the topic of mobility because as you narrated, you and your family moved around a lot. However, I really do value the concept in which you learned because it is so true, you appreciate something when you do not have it.

Max Thornton says:

October 1, 2015 at 2:14 pm

This is a very historic StoryMap that makes me learn so much about you. Thank you for sharing! You have made a great comparison to your life and how it compares with your parents early life. Mobility, Region and Globalisation all play into this quite clearly. Your ability to travel and experience in a more globalised and easily traversed world where you have a class form 25 countries! JOB WELL DONE!

Annika Sampedro says:

October 1, 2015 at 2:16 pm

Your global story is amazing in that so many different regions of the world are all connected to one person through both ancestral history and personal experience. The various cultures that your parents and grandparents have experienced are evident in your outlook on the world. I really liked your finishing remarks: “because the merit and worth of each other are discovered through respect.” Also, it is very neat that you have the first picture of any of your family members.