Denizen for third culture kids

Kira Miller Fabregat, 24, was one of the first Third Culture Kids I spoke to here at the Families in Global Transitions Conference in Houston. A daughter of an Argentine diplomat, she recently graduated with a law degree from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, and has lived in Venezuela, Argentina, Spain, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago and France.

What do you say when someone asks you where are you from?
My answer is: my family is Argentinean, my mother is from Chile, I was born in Venezuela, my passport says I’m Argentinean. I always tell my story.

Why?
Because telling the story is showing a part of the person who I am. … If you don’t know I’ve lived everywhere, then it means that you don’t know me at all. You don’t understand me. So I always tell my story. I tell it short, but I tell it.

Why are you here at the FIGT conference?
I have skills and resources within me that I don’t even know. So I’m here to try to take them out and see what I can do with them. To search a bit more within me.

When did you discover that you were a TCK?
I discovered it early because my mother came to this conference about five years ago. So it’s been something that we’ve talked about at home for a long time. I’ve had the books around the house, and my mother, every single time there’s a problem, she’s like, “You’re a TCK!” (laughs).

What’s surprised you about the conference?
I didn’t expect them to realize the difference between military, missionary and diplomat kids. I didn’t think there was a significant difference… it’s also very American-centric. … I’ve never lived in the U.S.

What’s one good thing about being a TCK?
I love being a TCK. It nearly defines me. It’s just the way I am. I love it because … because I do.

You don’t choose to be a TCK. But if I had the choice, I’d do it again.

What’s one bad thing about being a TCK?
Grief. That constant feeling of I don’t need a geographical place, but I do need a people place. … A space, not geographically, not in time, a space, that I can find myself. And I think the Internet is creating a space for TCKs.