Third Culture kids feel Misunderstood

I got quite a bit of pushback over the title of my first book. Misunderstood. I admit, it can sound negative. But I fought for that title. There were several iterations of the subtitle (the final version was “The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century”) but the title Misunderstood stayed with me from early in the process. Why? Because it was a word that came up in virtually every early interview.

When I noticed the pattern, that many Third Culture Kids were bringing up the feeling of being misunderstood, I started asking questions about it. At that point stories (often accompanied by tears) poured out of the young people I was interviewing. This was significant for them, a formative experience that shaped their understanding of the world and the way they related to other human beings. I felt that any other title would not accurately reflect the research I had done, or honour the stories of those who participated in that research.

So, are all TCKs destined to be misunderstood by everyone forever? If I believed that, I wouldn’t have written a book for the people who love them. A book designed to help them better understand the TCKs in their lives. Because while the statistics bear out the fact that many TCKs have experienced the feeling of being misunderstood, it doesn’t have to be that way. The goal of the work I do - as researcher, author, speaker, and workshop facilitator - is building bridges of understanding between people who care about each other, but see the world differently.

This infographic sums up a little of the information I gathered about Third Culture Kids and their feelings of being misunderstood - and the hope that this can change! Feel free to share it anywhere you think people would like to know more about these experiences.