If you’re looking up TCK, you may be wandering what the term means, or whether you are a TCK yourself.
As a Third Culture Kid immigrant myself, here is everything you need to know about TCKs. Along my personal story, you’ll learn about the common TCK struggles, the pros of being a TCK, how to find belonging, and more.
Continue reading to discover the meaning of TCK and everything that comes with being one.
Here is Everything to Know about TCKs
What is the meaning of TCK?
TCK stands for “Third Culture Kid”. A Third Culture Kid is someone who grows up with a culture different from their parents, or different from their country, and lives their developmental years in a different environment.
As an example, I am a third culture kid because of my Italian parents, my Mom being half Portuguese, and because I am from Italy but lived half my life in the United States. Due to this I have three cultures: Italian, Portuguese, and American.
Now that I’ve been living in Spain for the past few years, I keep adding new cultures to my belt.😂
How does it feel to be a third culture kid?
Being a third culture kid is both a blessing and a curse – but personally, much more a blessing than anything else. As a quick answer, being a TCK can make you feel lonely and lost, but also empowered and free. Let’s dive into it!👇
When you’re a third culture kid, you will often feel like you don’t have a specific place or group you belong to. Due to this, identity crises are the norm for TCKs because we are told, through words or behavior, that we are not “enough” of anything.
For example, I personally noticed that the more years I lived in the States, the more I was stripped of my Italian nationality. I’ve had plenty people tell me I was not “as Italian as them” or “Italian enough” because of how many years I had spent in the US.
Or when I am in Italy, I’m often called the “american friend/relative”, and in the US the “Italian friend”, because that’s the “cooler” friend to have.
These are, for what I’ve seen, universal struggles amongst TCKs and immigrants. While it is a tough experience, it’s important for TCKs to know that we are not alone in our struggles and that we do not need a geographical place to call home.
What are the Benefits of Being a Third Culture Kid?
While it’s easy to feel lost and lonely as a third culture kid, it’s also possible to feel free and empowered. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my 20+ years of being a TCK, is that it’s one of the coolest and most rewarding things one could be.
Here are some benefits of being a TCK:
- Adaptability. Whether it’s adapting to the environment or talking with people, you know how to move and adapt to any situation.
- You can make any place feel like home.
- Incredible Soft Skills. As a TCK, you learn how to connect with people from different parts of the world. This helps you create the strongest soft skills, from empathy to communication, problem solving, creativity, and more!
The Question No TCK Can Easily Answer
“Where are you from?” is the question that no TCK will ever give you a quick answer to.
This question always sends us overthinking our answer. Does this “asker” want to know where we were born? Where we currently live? Or do I say where I lived the most?
I’m curious to hear your opinion, respond in the comments: is someone “from” the place they…
- Were born?
- Lived the most?
- Currently live?
I personally always end up giving my full story as if it was an elevator pitch. “I’m originally from Italy, but I lived half my life in the US, and now I’m in Spain”. If I gave just one country as my answer, I’d feel like I’m hiding my full identity and story. What I am today, is a product of everything I’ve experienced and everywhere I’ve lived.
Where are you from? Let me know in the comments!
My Epiphany in Berlin | How I went from Lost to Belonging
Senior year of High School and College Freshmen year were the hardest years for me. I kept feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere and couldn’t identify with anyone or anything. At times I even felt like a fraud, thinking “do I still tell people I’m from Italy? or am I not enough to call my self that?”.
This pain and emptiness lasted until I landed in Sweden in the summer of 2018, when I went on my very first solo travel around Europe. In Sweden, I began to experience a level of happiness I had never experienced before – it was pure bliss. In a way, I felt whole.
After Sweden, I went to Germany, and visited the Wanderlust Exhibition in Berlin. This was an exhibition dedicated to travelers, where I quickly gained a sense of belonging. Towards the end of the exhibition, I found a song that changed my life and perspective for the better.
This song was able to put into words my complicated TCK feelings, which I had never been able to properly understand or describe. Here are some of the lyrics from the song Wanderlust by Bjork that changed my life:
“I have lost my origin and I don’t want to find it again…
I feel at home whenever the unknown surrounds me
I receive its embrace aboard my floating house”.
Let me know in the comments what these lyrics make you feel, or what you think about them!❤️
Finding the Sense of “Belonging” Again
Something I realized through my epiphany was that in order to find the sense of belonging, we need to let go of what we originally thought “belonging” meant. Furthermore, we need to focus on the strengths that being a TCK gives us.
As a TCK, whether you think so or not, you are a chameleon who can make ANY place your home. Because you don’t belong anywhere, you simultaneously belong everywhere and the world is your oyster.
I personally found my “belonging” when traveling and surrounded by the unknown, and wherever my heart is with loved ones. I also think that, because we share the experience of belonging nowhere specific, TCKs and Immigrants belong together in our worldwide community.
I have to ask…
What brought you here, today? Are there any TCK related questions you have for me, or advice you want? I’d love to help out in anyway I can!😊
Feel free to leave your questions, or share your experiences in the comments – or submit it in my contact form!
As always, thank you for being here. I’m so happy you are!❤️
Enjoyed the Post? Pin It!
Leave a Reply