The study of the third culture kid perspective is not static. Every year, new information and quotes can be found. I've compiled this short list of TCK quotes for you today. There are many, many more - but these are some that I have gathered or written the past few years. Please add to this list in the comment section! "A British childtaking toddling steps on foreign soil or speaking his or her firstwords in Chinese with an amah (nanny) has no idea of what it means to be human yet, let alone 'British.' He or she simply responds to what is happening in the moment" (Pollock and Van Reken, 2001) \\\\\
One of the quickest ways to damage the heart of a TCK is to outlaw negative emotions (grief, anger, disappointment, etc.). Tell them they shouldn't feel something, or that they just need to suck it up, or that their feelings show a lack of gratefulness. Yup, that'll do it. But, and this is the great part, allowing a TCK to experience the full range of emotions is one of the most caring things you can do. It's also one of the healthiest things you can do. - Jonathan Trotter in 3 Ways to Care for the Heart of Your TCK
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"A global soul is a person who had grown up in many cultures all at once - and so lived in the cracks between them." - Pico Iyer
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The journeying reality of the adult third culture kid is connecting our multicultural past with something that feels meaningful; connecting our invisible skills to a visible occupation.- Marilyn Gardner
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Sometimes it's very confusing, not knowing where you belong, or not belonging anywhere but feeling that you should. Other times I feel history's breath on my back and I wonder about the ways that everything got woven together for me to be where I am now." - Olga Mecking
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"The answer to the question of how long it takes them to adjust to American life is: they never adjust. They adapt, they find niches, they take risks, they fail and pick themselves up again. They succeed in jobs they have created to fit their particular talents, they locate friends with whom they can share some of their interests, but they resist being encapsulated. Their camouflaged exteriors and understated ways of presenting themselves hide the rich inner lives, remarkable talents, and often strongly held contradictory opinions on the world at large and the world at hand." - Dr. Ruth Useem
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"Seeing a world we loved disappear out a tiny airplane window as the plane lifts off and flies away. If we're lucky, it circles once so we can take a last full look at a place we once called home." - Jennie Legate
so, here you are. Too foreign for home, too foreign for here. never enough for both. - ijeoma umebinyuo\\\\\
"Our generation is in need of voices with storied backgrounds. TCKs who participate in a faith community are equipped to bring about a certain vitality and prophetic voice. They embody a different story to congregations with a single narrative. In this fast paced society of sound bytes and noise, we need the sharpened clarity brought by multiple cultural lenses, a valued asset TCKs possess. They live outside the box, upset the status quo, captivate larger dreams, and compel those around us to examine preconceived notions and to live with deeper integrity and passion." - Cindy Brandt in Third Culture Kids in the World of Faith
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"No generation before now has had so many of its members simultaneously living in, between, and among countless cultural worlds as is happening today." - LoisBushongThere are a group of us who bear no identifying marks. We don't have the same accent, we don't pronounce or even necessarily spell words the same way. We can't tell one another at first glance. We don't wear the "home team" t-shirt.But when we meet, and we know we've met, it's like we're from the same place. We greet each other, we carry on, we tell stories, we laugh wholeheartedly. It doesn't matter the age difference, the nationality, the gender. We connect. - Robynn Bliss in TCK Reunions - An Invisible Bond
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"Our homes are not defined by geography or one particular location, but by memories, events, people and places that span the globe." - Marilyn Gardner What quotes about TCKs do you love? Please join the conversation in the comment section!\\\\\
"Any third culture kid who lives effectively in her passport country has a moment of truth when she realizes it's okay to live here; it's okay to adjust; it's okay, even if she never feels fully at home, to feel a level of comfort in who she is in her passport country. To adapt doesn't mean settling for second best. To adapt is to use the gifts she developed through her childhood in order to transcend cultures and to find her niche in both worlds." - Between Worlds: Essays on Culture and Belonging
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Resource: Top Ten Tips for Counseling Third Culture Kids
