Hello everyone! Kumusta sa lahat! Hola a todos! Bonjour à tous!
All these greetings are valid expressions for my everyday life.
My name is Kathryn and I was born and raised in the Philippines, a boiling pot where Malay roots and a Hispanic heritage form a potent mix in my veins and in my culture. Yet like many children in the Philippines, I grew up speaking English, and watching American TV while my Hispano-Malay heritage persisted as a reference point for my identity. I have since lived in Spain and France, and in the autumn, I will move to Italy. This summer, I find myself in Poland. Currently, I’m pursuing a master in European Literary Cultures, that studies European literature and art in the plural. For my whole life, it has been impossible to define a clear-cut cultural identity, be it by birth or by choice, and I am consistently surprised and delighted that I, with the multiple histories that make who I am, am becoming the new normal.
It is this new normal of diversity, multiculturality, and all these blended histories, that I hope to bring to the table in my work with CIM Horyzonty, so that I can use this identity to promote curiosity, tolerance, and understanding in the communities and sectors we work with.