I am so thankful that a few weeks ago Ruth, the co-author of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds, has met with some of us third culture kids at my school, UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). I received a permission from Ruth to share this photo and her insights.

It was very informative and memorable for us. Ruth has given us presentations on the concept of CCK and how TCK fell under the umbrella of CCK. Of the many things that Ruth explained, what warmed my heart was that by introducing the concept of TCK she was giving us the basis of language to refer to our own story and experience. Most of us has never read the third culture kid books and had not known each other on a personal level.

Ruth emphasized that TCKs can be stuck due to unresolved grief, feeling like victims so they cannot utilize their rich resources and talents.

We have shared our own background, identity and sense of belonging issues, repatriation, and a hint of future career. It was emotional for many of us and the ties we could make with each other were healing. I think many TCKs are confused about where they are headed to, what career to pursue which can maximize the resources they have. Ruth told us, “When you are stuck, just do one thing you can do.” You can find one thing you can do and later this will lead to the next one thing you can do. Ruth said there were times she did not know what she was supposed to do but later all she has done in the past came to pieces. They made sense.

It was comforting to hear the truthful words of an older, experienced lady Ruth. Maybe she is pointing to the future. A future that points to another.