Personal Narrative: My Iranian Family

I was born into an Iranian family of four. I am the eldest son. I have a younger brother who is 32 years old and currently lives in Canada with his wife and our father. My both parents are retired teachers. In Iran we were a small family with average income. I would describe my childhood years as very mixed. For the most years I have had a happy childhood, however due to my parents continuous conflict and fighting at home, sometimes during my childhood years were stressful. My parents eventually ended up divorcing some years later. As a teenager in the Netherlands, I was still trying to find myself. I didn't had a clear goal of what I exactly wanted to be or become. I believe I have missed many good opportunities in areas of studies and employment
Army. My parent’s divorce had a great impact on my life in the sense that I realized how important the communication between the people could be. My parents would have been an ideal couple if they knew how to effectively talk and understand each other. However because they came from very different family backgrounds, as a young couple, this created a lots of challenges for them. My father came from a traditional and somewhat conservative Iranian family whereas my mother’s family was very liberal and modern. In a perfect world this would have worked great where both could have learned a lot from each other. However since they could not understand each other’s feeling and lacked the tools for clear communication, instead this created conflict and endless fighting’s. The effect of their divorce showed me the importance of active listening and great communication skills. I think today as an adult I am better aware of the tools of communication in my work and personal