In 1997, I was born in Sandy, Utah. I didn’t live there for long before I was put up for adoption and moved to Wahiawa, Hawaii with my adoptive parents. My dad was in the military so he and my mom lived there for five years. My dad was a Korean linguist in the army so he spent three years living in South Korea before I was adopted. Once my parents had finally gotten me, we were supposed to move to a base in Korea but at the last second, the army changed my dad’s orders and made it so only he would move while my mom and I stayed in Hawaii. After five years of trying to adopt, my parents had just gotten me and my dad was not willing to miss my entire first year. Because of this, he decided to honorably discharge from the army. We moved back to the mainland and moved five more times before settling in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania. I lived in many different places growing up, and Kunkletown was by far the most rural. Because of this, I wanted to try something completely new and applied to colleges in New York City and ended up at Fordham University.  This blanket is the only item I have from before I was adopted. It was with me in Utah, Hawaii, every other one of my homes and now it is here in New York City. It serves as a reminder of how incredibly fortunate I am to have ended up with the family I have now. My adoption blanket is a symbol of where I came from, the sacrifices my family has made for me and why I need to keep working hard and be successful.  

– Kayla Wolf

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant