My name is Adeline.My parents moved to the United States from the Philippines to start a new life. 

We moved to a small town in the middle of nowhere. There was only one Elementary School: Walkertown Elementary.

Even though I wasn’t born in the Philippines, my parents fed me Filipino food, taught me Filipino culture, and even spoke to me in their language, Tagalog.

I went to the same school for my whole life! New people rarely came to school. We all were best friends and knew each other because the school was so small.

No one looks like me. 

Even though we all knew and grew up with each other, I still felt like I didn’t belong.

Eggrolls always reminded me of my family eating together. I was so excited to eat my lunch!

One day my mom packed my favorite lunch. It was a Filipino specialty: eggrolls made with vinegar and soy sauce and a rice cake for dessert. Yum!  

I walked into the lunchroom and proudly opened my lunchbox to unpack my favorite Filipino cuisine.

When I took the container out, my mouth was watering.

YUM

The boy replied, “No way. That looks disgusting! I think you need to sit somewhere else because that smells so bad.”

All of a sudden, the boy next to me made a face of disgust. Ewwwwww! What is that smell! That smells disgusting!”

Confused, I looked down at my lunch and looked back at him. “It’s Filipino food…would you like to try some?”

As the boy said all of these mean things to me, everyone else in my class started to make fun of my eggrolls and rice cakes.

I felt so alone.

I found an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria to eat my food all alone while I watched my friends eat their food together. 

I was so sad. When I got home, my mom noticed the frown on my face and asked, “What’s wrong anak?”

“I never want to eat this food again! All my friends made fun of me. They said it was stinky and I had to eat lunch all by myself”

Mom replied, “I have just the idea to make your friends love this food. We are going to make a bunch of eggrolls and rice cakes and bring it to your homeroom!”

I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Did you not hear what I said!

“Adeline, everyone knows that a way to someone’s heart is through the stomach!”

My mom got the ingredients out to make eggrolls. She mixed the beef and veggies together and made me in charge of wrapping them. She showed me how to wrap them one by one. 

“Wrap them carefully with love!” She exclaimed. “Sometimes people are scared of what they don’t know, mahal. They don’t know your culture. That’s why we have to share it with them.”