Namarachi was born in 2007 in Brooklyn to Nigerian immigrant parents. She attends Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College and says her parents' upbringing—one that was not "an easy life"—has shaped her motivation as both a student and a person. Although she says her parents "don't like failure," she doesn't feel pressured by them. Instead, their experiences inspire her to work hard.

Igbo was Namarachi's first language, and English her second. She recalls that her parents made it a priority for her and her siblings not to lose their heritage. As a child, she regularly attended Nigerian cultural association gatherings with her family.

Although Namarachi considers herself equally Nigerian and American, she feels more distant from Nigeria than her parents do. She visited only once at age two, a trip she does not remember. Even so, she naturally gravitates toward other Nigerians at school and sings in her church choir, made up largely of fellow Nigerians. These connections reflect how her parents' efforts to preserve their culture have shaped her identity, even if she does not always consciously recognize.

Namarachi is grateful to have been born in the United States and recognizes the opportunities it has given her. She points to relatives in Nigeria who ask her parents for financial support, a reminder of the different realities their family members experience.

The object Namarachi chose was a photograph of her mother and father in Nigeria. As the child of immigrants, the photo represents the culture her parents passed down to her and reminds her where she comes from.

– Simone Oduola

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant