My Autobiography

Atourina Gelyana

Birth date/Birthplace

I was born in San Diego, Ca on January 21st, 1995 at Grossmont Sharp Hospital.

Family Members

I have seven brothers and two sisters, all of which are from the same mother and father. I am the youngest child. My father’s name is Odesho and my mother’s name is Sito. They got married in Iraq when my mom was only fourteen and my father was fifteen. My five oldest brothers (James, Joseph, Daniel, Ninus & Ted) and my two sisters (Yasmin & Dina) were born in Iraq. My second to last brother (Ashur) was born in the country of Turkey and my last oldest brother (Emanouil) was born in Greece. I was the only one born in the United States, which is an advantage, because I didn’t have to go through all the troubles with escaping and traveling by foot to get here.

Childhood/School life
Growing up, I was raised speaking two languages, which are Assyrian (Aramaic) and English. My siblings would speak english to me while my parents spoke the Assyrian language. By the time I was at the age of five, I was going to start kindergarten and it was an advantage that I fully spoke and understand the english language as well as my native language. I would figure by now that school could have been a problem for me, coming from a native family, but it has been a great experience and my education is only increasing and getting better. It was never an issue for me. I loved school growing up and I still do. I come from a family that has carried on many traditions and cultural values. When I was very young, about the age of two, I would learn the cultural dances and how to read and write in Aramaic. That was a benefit for me, because my family and I go to many weddings and they all consist of the traditional dances. Also, learning how to read and write has helped me, because I am involved in my church choir and all the prayers are written in the Assyrian language.

Hobbies/Activities

One of the main things I do daily is work out. Fitness is very important to me and I go to the gym about five to six days weekly. Anytime I am overwhelmed or stressed, working out cures all that and makes me feel much more better. Other than working out, I enjoy cooking middle eastern dishes. I am still in the process of learning how to make lots of dishes and my mother is a fantastic cook, so I learn from the best. I enjoy singing in my church choir as well and it’s something I have been doing since I was eight years old.

Interests
My two main interests include music and sports. I pretty much listen to all kinds of music and all sorts of genres, but mainly depends on my mood. Listening to music helps me focus on many things, such as cleaning/doing chores, studying, or doing homework. It puts me in my own place and helps me focus. With sports, I love watching all sorts of sports, but mainly Football and Basketball. I used to play basketball at West hills and it was a good experience. My favorite football team is the SD Chargers and my favorite basketball team is the LA Lakers.

Anecdotes
In the year of 2007, my parents, my second eldest brother (Joseph) and I went to Iraq. My family was born and raised there and I was one of the three in my family who had not seen what it was like over there or met any of my relatives. The lifestyle is far more different than it is here. In Iraq it was almost as if you have all the freedom you want with the things that would be considered illegal here. For example, not having to wear a seatbelt while driving or loitering. Here in the US, these things are not allowed and you will get ticketed for such behaviors. For the most part, i saw that to be very dangerous, because people drive insanely and chaotically, which causes lots of accidents and deaths. I had many relatives from both my father’s and mother’s side of family. The trip was for about forty five days and each day I would meet with one to two families and within those forty five days, there were still families that I did not get a chance to meet. I never thought it was possible to have so many relatives.

One day, my cousins and I were going on top of a great hill in a city called Deralok. We were crossing a road to get to the other side, and a herd of cows just so happened to be crossing through the intersection as well. As I looked over at them, I noticed one of the cows approaching us and my cousins were telling me to relax and not move, but they were used to cows roaming around as I was not. So I freaked out and ran. I ran as fast as I could and got to the top of the hill, because I figured the cow was too fat to go up on the hill. The farmer came running towards the cow and the cow had got to the top of the hill as well. As the cow was going up, I began to go down the opposite side of the hill. I ran quickly back home and moments later, the cow approached the gated house and the gate was low so the head was able to stick over the gate. The cow mooed a few times as I watched it through the window and decided to leave. It was terrifying.

Career
In the near future, I plan on getting into the medical field and becoming a pharmacist. At first, i was interested in nursing, but as I began to look into it more in depth, I figured that I do not want to do it anymore. Pharmacy became my next choice and it has become important to me, because my dad’s side of family including him as well, all have different kinds of medical issues such as diabetes or high blood pressure etc. I would go to the pharmacy with my father to pick up his prescriptions and I would imagine myself behind the counter, doing the same exact thing. The thought of knowing what you do each day helps the lives of others, seems like a wonderful feeling and it’s for a great cause as well. I plan on going to a four year university to get the education I need and proceed on to Med-School. Hopefully my dreams come to reality and I reach my goals.