Hadiya Roderique, thank you for sharing your experience as a human being, a Canadian, a woman of colour. Throughout our lives I suppose many (most) of us feel we don't belong for any number of reasons. Your essay reinforces that it's naive for me to judge what your life is like - in the whole - by looking at your resume, a photograph, meeting you in a particular setting, knowing your family. As it would be naive of you to judge me. I'm sure I've made many missteps over the years, but strive to learn more every day on this planet. The tone of many of the comments here leaves me sad for humanity ... yet many readers connected strongly with your essay so I am also hopeful that honest conversation can provoke us to move forward.