Uncovering a True Identity
When Sanaz Arjomand decided to blog about her recent summer trip to visit her extended family, she had no idea if anyone would even read her posts.
In any event, she certainly did not set out to be a political spokesperson offering an insider's perspective of the ensuing chaos following the June Iranian presidential election.
As with many bloggers, her goal was simply to create an online journal of sorts, which would include information about her immediate surroundings and current events as she saw them unfolding in Iran. Of course, a key differentiating factor between Arjomand's daily events at the time and those of the "typical" blogger was that her particular circumstances involved a highly salient issue of global interest - after all, history was in the making.
As Arjomand blogged, she was aware only of the two or three readers who regularly posted comments on her offerings. It was a true surprise to her when, after having returned to the United States in early July, she learned via the College's Twitter page that her blog had been featured on the Huffington Post, a popular news website. Suddenly what began as a personal little blog was quite public, and she was starting to gain some perspective as to how many unknowns out there might have been reading her musings. The revelation was exciting.
And a bit daunting.
Of course, the very nature of a blog is that it offers a portal for the blogger to share personal opinions and observations with the world at large. It's somewhat amazing to consider that any number of people, at any given time, could be influenced by the posts of any one individual blogger.
A double-edged sword, that same situation, as Arjomand found out, could also be deemed frightening. Having your opinions out there could be harmless enough on most accounts, but it certainly becomes more loaded when the topics covered include an alleged political scandal and its ensuing violence. Add to that brewing pot the fact that reporting on the politics of a country in which you are not a permanent resident is likely to attract some criticism, especially when that country's government stands in frequent opposition to and condemnation of your own, the United States.
The irony is palpable. As an American college student, Arjomand is consistently encouraged to speak her mind, cultivate her passions and develop her own individual voice, and she found herself walking a tight line between that identity and another she also considers her own- within a culture where speaking out against the "norm" is taboo, where young people (and women especially) have no real voice, where even an errant lock of hair left uncovered is considered an expression of defiance.
As a political science major and a member of the Honors College, Arjomand is extremely interested in world politics and was excited that her visit to Iran coincided with the June election. At 20 years old, she had just cast her first ballot in the 2008 U.S. presidential election and was eager for the opportunity to participate in another election where change could indeed prove to be the operative word. Possessing dual citizenship, she looked forward to voting for Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the candidate for reform who seemed to have a fighting chance against the strongly conservative incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
When Ahmadinejad was revealed as the landslide winner, many were convinced that the victory was fixed. The riots that ensued created what is known as the biggest rift between the conservative and the reformist parties in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Although not fearful for her life, Arjomand inevitably felt the energy in Iran - it was driven by violence and uncertainty, the sort she had never before experienced. It was largely due to this political unrest and the feelings the situation imparted amongst residents and visitors alike that she opted to cut her visit short and re-entered the United States on the Fourth of July.
Her ability to report on politics with a rare insider's perspective, devoid of the American mass media "spin," is arguably what created the buzz around her blog, yet the main reason for her visit was not tied to politics at the outset. On a much more personal level, she was seeking to reconnect with and explore an important aspect of her identity.
She had arrived at a place and time where she felt she could appreciate her heritage and wanted to visit the country where her parents were born and where the majority of her extended family still lives. But an even deeper personal feeling was revealed and affected her on a visceral level. This country - with which she maintains such close physical and emotional ties - was demonstrating true ugliness to her. It was difficult to reconcile how she could continue to foster and relate to this half of her identity when it stood in such stark opposition to the other half as an American college student.
During her last visit, at age 15, she had resented many of the restrictions placed upon her as a woman and as an outsider, largely because they resulted in personal inconvenience. This time, at age 20, the differences in lifestyle profoundly affected her, and she was keenly aware of the political and social divides that make Iran such a wholly different place from Johns Creek, Ga., where she grew up, and where her parents still live.
Because she was taught to speak her mind freely and openly in the United States, it now occurred to her that her blog, just by its very nature of being a place to voice unfiltered thoughts and opinions, could land her in a significant amount of trouble.
Yet she was compelled to tell her stories, to provide a viewpoint of life in Iran, so she forged on - relying heavily on her American citizenship - to reassure herself that she would not face consequences for her political blogging.
Interestingly, she placed herself squarely in the spokesperson role not because she wished to impose her judgments onto others, but because she had an insuppressible urge to rectify the two cultures with which she identifies in her own life.
Perhaps as a result of this recent blogging venture, and the unsolicited acclaim it received, Arjomand is quite sensitive to the importance of weighing her words. She learned that her blog was featured on World Focus - a television show airing on American Public Broadcasting - and it was here that they strung together several separate thoughts of hers to present an "excerpt" she did not exactly write.
Although such an occurrence in no way detracted from the fact that she was simultaneously thrilled and humbled by the attention her blog gleaned, she became well aware that any bit of information she offers could be taken out of context.
Of course, the flip side is that she also has a new understanding for the potential of influence and the power of one person to make a difference: an exciting prospect for someone who is seeking to harmoniously blend different cultural identities.
Arjomand plans to return to Iran in another five years, if not sooner on a visit with her mother. She also plans to continue blogging (now at www.sanazarjomand.blogspot) and to keep exploring the question of what it means to be an American, what it means to be an Iranian and, most importantly to Arjomand, what it means to be an Iranian-American. 
To read Arjomand's blog about her Iranian adventures, check out www.asummerundercover.blogspot.com.