Benilde-St. Margaret’s students come from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and identities. Many students have dual citizenship in more than one country. Celebrating different cultures and heritages has become more important at BSM within the past couple of years and expressing one another’s beliefs and culture helps us to understand and learn more about each other. Based on a survey, 66.7% of those who responded are citizens in another country other than the USA. The countries range from the United States neighbors like Mexico and Canada to countries across the ocean like Germany and India.
Senior Maya Sonbol is a citizen of the United States along with Egypt. Sonbol said that there aren’t many advantages to being a citizen in Egypt, as American citizenship overpowers Egyptian citizens as they look up to Americans. There isn’t much to expect in Egypt other than the opportunity to be treated like a citizen. “Egypt is very family-oriented. They care a lot about others compared to America. It’s just more about the system, and jobs here [in America,]” Sonbol said.
Egypt is very family-oriented. They care a lot about others compared to America. It’s just more about the system, and jobs here [in America,]
— Maya Sonbol
Freshman Emmanuel Kaul is a citizen of Germany and India. Since Kaul has three citizenships, it makes it very easy to travel because he has passports in multiple countries and can visit those countries without a visa. He is a very frequent traveler and hasn’t needed a visa in the past 8 years. There are many cultural differences between the US and Germany including less tipping, more walkers out and about, and there are many castles. There are also many differences between Germany and Kaul’s second citizenship, India. “In India, I have only been to one city, Kolkata, but have been there nine times. It’s very polluted, the police are corrupt, and touching a child’s face is considered normal which has always felt odd to me,” Kaul said.
Another member of the BSM community with dual citizenship is Livia Fernstrom. She believes the advantages of being a dual citizen are the swift travel to visit family in Sweden. She also enjoys having a Swedish passport, which makes it much easier to travel alone or even with her cousins. “There are some differences in the cultures between the United States and Sweden but the main thing I see a lot in Europe that is different from here is the dinner and meal times. Most people here eat dinner around 5:30-6:00 and in Europe my family doesn’t eat dinner until 8:30-9:00 sometimes even 10:00,” Fernstrom said.