Growing up

Throughout my mentorship with Kateryna,* I have become attuned to a certain structural inequality within her family unit. 

Kat traveled to the US with her mother and younger sister, Elena, who is 1 year old. Her mother has been tirelessly searching for a job, which often leaves Kat in charge of Emma while her mother is away at interviews or networking opportunities. The situation is understandable as Kat is 11 years older than Elena, however, it has placed an immense amount of pressure on Kat. For a child who is already facing the affects of leaving her country, father, and friends, the impact of also acting as a second parent to Elena has been immensely apparent. 

Since meeting Kat, I have consistently been astounded with her high level of maturity. As I continued to mentor her these past few weeks, I’ve realized it’s due to her being forced to grow up very quickly. This is something I have considered exploring for my capstone project. However, at this point, I am still unsure of exactly what I want to focus on. I hope over the next few weeks it will become more apparent.

*Kateryna/Kat and Elena are pseudonyms used for anonymity.