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Jack Mismash

Professor Jose Hernandez

Race and Gender 2010

9 November 2017

Self Narrative

One's identity can be made up of many things including their race, their sexuality, and

where they are from. When identifying my relationship with my identity, I have found that a

large part of what makes me who I am is where I was born. A birth home can define someone's

culture, their personality and even their future, in my own case. I have decided to share one of

my experiences regarding identity, specifically; of being adopted. Being adopted has had its

effects on my life as a teenager, and because I am being considered as an immigrant in the

United States. This label has helped me define my identity and understand how my small part of

my own life such as where I was born can affect so many things and so many people. My

background as being adopted has also helped me reflect on how lucky I have been to be given

the opportunities in my endeavours in school and athletics, as well as being in a family.

I was born in Southwestern Russia, in a large city near the border of Kazakhstan, known

as Omsk. Omsk is the largest city in the region of Siberia, and the eighth largest city in Russia.

Omsk is mostly recognized for its railroad and aviation hub to serve for travel through the

country, but was also historic for its military purposes to protect southern and “​eastern borders of

the Russian Empire along the Irtysh and the Ishim rivers” in the 1700’s-1900’s (Russia Trek).

Omsk is also known for its beautiful architecture, a place I would like to admire later in my life

when I travel as an adult to visit where I was born. Born in late July of 2000, I was immediately
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put up for adoption due to financial issues with my parents and put into a local orphanage. There

I lived for over two years, until my entire life was changed by one specific person, who luckily

found me on a website in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is a memory that I am sure I won’t forget

and neither will my mother.

My adoptive mother, Nancy Mismash, has told me countless stories of when I was

adopted, ranging from her visits to the large city twice before adopting me, or my hate for forms

of transportation. I even had a love for the various and foreign foods she would bring me such as

apples or the worldwide desired: Peanut Butter Ritz Bitz. It has been intriguing to now listen to

the entire story from her all in one piece, and has helped me understand how difficult and long

the process has been to create the person I have developed into. I know these stories all affect

who I am both today and who I will become, but the events have also helped me understand and

represent my culture as a Russian-American. This pathway not only is a part of my race, but

being adopted has now affected my class and my status as an immigrant.

The story begins by the interesting method in which I was discovered, by an online

adoption agency based out of Idaho, where they would primarily help individuals adopt children

mostly out of Russia and/or Central and South America. She contacted this establishment after

scrolling through their pictures of available children, including me, who are up for adoption from

all areas in Siberia. After a few weeks of exchanging paperwork, sending pictures of our home

and area of Salt Lake, and identifying if she was suitable for adoption, the orphanage allowed

Nancy to come and visit me because of her extensive interest. She flew out to New York and

then to Omsk to come see me for the first time during the 4th of July in 2002.
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Although the travel was long, she had landed in the small city that I came from. She had

to invite a well known Russian doctor and a local translator to help her communicate with both

my caretaker and herself to express what health requirements I would need (Something the

orphanage recommended when taking a child of my age and prematurity at birth). Ironically,

even though they tried her to convince her to adopt another 9 month old child, she eventually

was allowed time to see me. How lucky! The first visit was specifically to see how my

personality and health was, and to get an idea of the steps it would take to adopt me. During this

time, she was allowed to watch me in a large room with the class of other children, especially

when it was time to play. She also spent over four hours a day with me privately over the course

of the week during her stay.

After travelling home, a second trip was scheduled after the court date was set shortly

after her meeting with me in Omsk. She then once again boarded another plane 6 weeks after

being back in the United States. She arrived in Siberia to finalize my adoption, only this time

with my great uncle, who offered to help because of the previous struggles she endured with the

foreign aspects of her stay. After I was officially adopted, I spent most of the time traveling

home, but crying constantly from the new experiences or from the places we visited in Moscow

as well as every car and plane we went on. Before flying to Salt Lake City, we stopped in New

York City for my naturalization. I was then flown to my new home, with my new family, a place

I would be for the next 15 years of my lifetime.

When first coming to the United States, I had lots of issues involving my health and my

transition into the new area. I had multiple surgeries and had to meet with many health

professionals about the best ways to familiarize myself with the new food and sleep schedule, as
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well as dealing with my premature birth. I didn’t really feel comfortable until a whole year had

passed where I could sleep and eat normally. At this point, I had started to finally speak english,

and also start to be comfortable trying new things. This is one of the biggest reasons I started

gymnastics, after a doctor recommended that I start a physical activity to help my lower body

regain strength. I am proud to say that I now have successfully been committed to competing for

a club team for over 12 years, and have even placed Nationally on a event in my last season

where I traveled to Kissimmee, Florida. This idea of being a small child who wasn't necessarily

physically strong or healthy when traveling to the United States, but then working hard to be a

part of a competitive sport at a Junior Olympic level is exactly what defines my identity today

and my values of hard work and determination as well. I want to carry this motivation onto other

aspects of my life to truly achieve what I desire.

The strangest part of being a child in a poor country and inside an orphanage is the lack

of health care and food. Most of what I ate when being an orphan was oatmeal or a type of

Russian porridge, known as Kasha. They would also give us decaffeinated coffee instead of

water because of the poor water quality. Unfortunately, there was also children with physical

disabilities, and I was lucky to have issues that were only acute and could be solved by

professional help once I entered the U.S. Most of these children, including me, did not have

adequate health care when they were born and will grow up to have many issues regarding their

physical form or mentality.

I grew up in Salt Lake City, in a home near the University of Utah up until we moved to

our new home in Farmington, Utah. My life after this adoption has been fairly normal

considering I was adopted, up until I was attempting to get my Utah Drivers License at 16 years
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old. After going to the DMV, they notified us that I would not be able to get my license because

of new regulatory laws involving immigration and its change in documentation required to be a

citizen. When I was younger, during my naturalization, I had a Russian birth certificate and a

Russian certificate of adoption to show and prove my citizenship. In order to be a U.S. citizen,

the state of Utah was now requiring I either go through the long and expensive process to get a

certificate of citizenship, or I be re-adopted here in Salt Lake City (This would show that I was

born and adopted inside Utah).

So we began the course of action to receive a certificate of citizenship. In looking into the

requirements for this document, we found you must have an up to date green card (or also known

as a resident alien card), which was an issue because mine had been expired since I entered the

U.S.. After paying to get my new green card, we then applied for the proof of citizenship through

the federal government, which involved filing for a petition to domesticate my foreign adoption

decree, waiting in endless lines, and of course the thousands of dollars to go with it. Even though

this was a painful process, this ended up working out because we also needed to formally change

my name after it wasn't translated correctly from Russian to English, and we would have to

renew these documents for that anyway.

One of the last steps to receiving my citizenship once again, was also based on new

immigration laws, where anybody immigrating, applying for a green card, attempting to gain

citizenship, or go through naturalization must first be fingerprinted and photographed into the

USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). These fingerprints are not just a process

anybody has to go through, as it is specific for every immigrant and used for specifically for

criminal purposes. Being fingerprinted was a strange experience for me because I finally started
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to actually feel the effects of being an immigrant. It felt as though they look at you and see you

differently just because you have come from a different country. Knowing that I was different in

my origin hasn't changed how I represent myself, and I am proud to know I came from

somewhere else and have the opportunities I am given.

One way that I have also been influenced by living in the United States is my exposure to

new religions. The most dominant religion in the area of Siberia where I came from was the most

practiced as well, Orthodox Christianity. The big difference is that Utah has a large population of

those who are LDS, Christian, or Catholics. My mom went to Catholic church when I was

younger, and I even was put in a Catholic elementary school during kindergarten through 2nd

grade. I then transitioned to the LDS church that my grandmother attended, and noticed

significant differences already. Although I am not practicing any religion now, it is hard to

wonder what kind of religion I would be a part of if I resided in Omsk.

Being adopted has taught me a valuable lesson in my everyday life, where I want to use

every chance I get to learn and every opportunity I have to grow. If I wasn't adopted, I would

definitely not have the same life or lifestyle I do now. Being an immigrant has had its positive

effects as well, providing me the chance to excel in school and even just the chance to learn, a

chance that many orphans or unadopted children simply do not get. I have reflected on the

amazing path I was granted with when coming to the United States, based on reading about the

unfortunate lives who are not adopted, transition to. In the hypothetical case that I wouldn't have

been adopted, my life would have already been different. Most Russian orphans who are not

adopted are emancipated at the age of 15, and are sent into the outside world without any of their

family or much support from the federal government. After doing some research online about the
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outcome of those not adopted, I found some grim results including children who become

homeless, part of gangs, involved in prostitution, or marked and therefore ineligible for

education. There was also a recent federal ban on Americans adopting any Russian orphans

because of the many stories of those who are given away after adoption. These children do not

have much experience or choice in what they should be doing after they are released.

My adoption has changed the course of my relationship with race and class, as I now

experience my life as someone who may have just been born in Siberia, but lives in the United

States. One of the largest liberties of being adopted has been my experience with education. As

soon as I started school in the states, I have been lucky to always be in a smaller school, all the

way up through my current high school, AMES. AMES is one of the many schools that have

been smaller, and has a graduating class of 125-150 students. Being a part of these smaller

classes has allowed me to focus on furthering my education and provided me with harder classes.

Knowing the already chance of being adopted, I want to use my education for a further purpose

because of the amazing journey I have been on to even be here.

As I mentioned before, I am now involved in the rigorous and demanding sport of

gymnastics. After starting at only four years old, I worked my way through each level and soon

competed on the men's team at the age of 6-7, and now have continued to pursue my goals even

at the national level. This opportunity of being on an athletic team has lead me to make long term

relationships and the necessary life skills that are engrained in participating in a sport. Some of

the most important lessons I have taken from being at practice every day include maintaining

hard work, time management, determination, leadership, friendships, and relationships. I have

been able to keep these values while still in school, and I know that it will prepare me for any
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other time consuming schedule in the future. I know that without traveling to America, I would

never have gone through these important struggles and development. Immigration is an

fascinating part of my life that I am grateful for and want to express as a form of motivation

towards others in the struggles they may have endured in their childhood.

Sources

http://russiatrek.org/omsk-city