Who is Batman? Who is Bruce Wayne? Some would say he is the same person, some will say he is different. The point is he can’t really be both, he can be half decent at both characters but living between worlds is an art that no one can truly master. My Name is Jack Greer and I am a military brat. My dad flies big planes and we travel around the globe. My journey that I would like to share with people is about finding identity and a place in a shifting world. I am an American who shares many of the same values as those around me. I am also a foreigner to some countries, one of which I will share is Qatar. Being an American is something I share great pride in, I understand what my country stands for and how and what we live for. I support decisions that my country makes in my name. I have lived in America for about 12 years of my life and they have turned me into the person that I am today, making me a strong figure with straight morals.

Though part of me will always feel some sort of pride towards Qatari. I believe that my experience overseas changed me and created an individual who understands the deeper reality of nationality and what it means to feel out of place. I attended an American school in Doha the Capital of Qatar, which many of my fellow American students also attended as well as many Arabs. I learned to fit in and accept multiple cultures, not only were Arabs and White two prominent cultures there were also those of Indian, Asian, and European descent. Being at a school that supported this intermixing truly was an experience. We had an event where we celebrated our nationalities in which many Arab people brought Beit ash-Sha'ar tents and we played traditional games at recess and ate food like kebabs and shawarma. I enjoyed learning these new things and making new friends. There I learned to speak Arabic and communicate with native people. I visited places like Souq Waqif where I got a pet turtle that I learned to cherish.

Though I felt like I knew the place well and fit in with many, I was still an outsider living far away and in different places than many of the Qatar people with infinite riches. I would still travel to America in the summer on a 16 hour flight at times to visit my family in Colorado. I enjoy Colorado but I missed the PNW, I missed the rain, the green, the ocean. Whenever I came back to America I felt as though I had lost a piece of my American identity, I couldn’t eat pork, I couldn’t go to church services or wear certain clothes at times. I felt like an outcast, isolated from my friends and cousins I had known all my life. And when I returned to Qatar I felt almost out of shape. Like I had to re-learn some things. Always came back with new American clothes and a new Haircut which was difficult to get where I lived a different taste and liking for the food which felt different.

The experiences that I learned while living in a foreign country made me more appreciative and understanding, I enjoy cultures and certain customs, as well as more religiously tolerant and understanding. America is my home and always will be but changing and transitioning periods in my life made me a greater person.

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