![]() My grandparents’ generation was the victims of the Holocaust, so that was very close. “I hate Hebrew School! I don’t want a bat mitzvah! This is stupid!” That limited me from a thoughtful, meaningful engagement with what it meant to be Jewish. The realm of rebellion that I had, which was pretty narrow, was Judaism. Did all my work, was really nice, sure she can come for playdates, everything. What role did Judaism play in your childhood? I thought, “I can work all day to get some boy to look at me again and it could work or it couldn’t work, but, if I just do my work, I will learn all these things and I will do well and I will go to a good school.” I think that’s good advice, because I see it happening with young people, especially girls – that waiting to be picked or for someone to tell me I’m cool. What I did to escape all of that was throw myself into my studies. Around my sophomore or junior year, I remember being so wound up: “Are boys going to like me? Am I pretty?” That “pick me” thing, which is so passive. ![]() What advice would you give your teenage self?įocus on the things that you have control over, because you can make those things incredible. The exact same thing happened in the 3rd grade with the word “czar.” Since then, I’ve gotten over it. I remember my teacher said, “Does anybody know how to spell knife?” I really knew it was spelled with a “k,” but I was too embarrassed to raise my hand, because I’m thinking, “If it’s not spelled with a ‘k,’ I’m gonna look so stupid…” I didn’t, and of course it’s spelled with a “k!” If you know, take a risk, don’t be so scared. I’ve always been super into the books, a serious student, but not always secure. Mehlman, my dad is an Eastern European Jew, and Petrzela, my husband is an Eastern European non-Jew. Then, they hear Yael, and it’s pretty clear. I’m kind of indiscriminately ethnic looking, so, when people hear Natalia, they often assume it’s Italian, because of the Natale, which is Christmas, even though it has nothing to do with that. Really pretty, too, but my mom made a stand for the Latin dimension of our life, so she chose Natalia. My dad’s parents wanted me to be named after the deceased grandmother, Anna. My mother is Argentine, and there was kind of a power struggle there. Natalia Yael Mehlman Petrzela is my full name. This is the day the house of cards collapses.” Then, there’s this little voice that’s like, “But, what if you do it?” You are not going to be able to handle this. Every life milestone, I think, “There’s no way. ![]() On the first day of kindergarten, I remember walking in and looking up at these very, very tall stairs and thinking, “There’s no way I can do this,” then thinking, “But, if I can do this, I can do a lot of things.” That feeling has repeated itself so many times in my life.
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