Camellia Jahanshahi left STA to attend another all-girls Catholic school in New York | by MICAH WILKINS

Trading Places

Camellia Jahanshahi would be a senior at STA this year with 130 young women who would be her classmates.  She would be waking up, throwing on her plaid skirt and driving to 5600 Main street every morning like she’s done for the past three years.  She would be checking into the Whitney advisory just before the bell rings.

But Jahanshahi now goes to a different all-girls, Catholic high school, 1,200 miles away in New York City.  She wakes up every morning in Brooklyn and puts on a different uniform skirt before taking the F Train to join 80 other girls at her new school.

Hazy Future

The summer after her sophomore year at STA, Jahanshahi had no idea what her family’s plans were.

“I remember the end of sophomore year I thought I was moving to Chicago, Ill. during the summer, but my parents were like ‘Oh, nevermind,'” Jahanshahi said.

Mr. Kamran Jahanshahi, Camellia’s father, had been searching for a new job when his employer in Kansas City let him go.  Some of their relocation options and Kamran’s potential job offers were in places like Barcelona, Tokyo, New York City, as well as Chicago.  Kamran traveled across the globe to be interviewed for positions, but when plans fell through, the uncertainty was unsettling for Camellia.  Even that October, Kamran was still deliberating and going to interviews, according to Camellia.

“I just snapped one day and I told [my parents] ‘ËœDon’t tell me anything about where we’re going to live until you actually know,'” Camellia said.  “I didn’t want to tell people and then have plans change again, like they had so many other times.”

Not until last winter did Kamran finally settle on the decision to leave Kansas City, which the Jahanshahis had called home for 10 years, for a job as vice president for global business transformation at MetLife, a life insurance company in New York.  In July, Kamran, Camellia, her mother Ms. Julie Milner, their dog Zara, their cat Calico and their fish Jake moved to Brooklyn, a borough of New York City.

Worldview

Camellia is no stranger to new places, new people or new experiences.

‘I was born in Baltimore, [Md.], and then we moved to Florida, I can’t remember where,” Camellia said.  “Then after Florida we moved to Greece. After Greece we moved to Belgium. After Belgium we moved to Missouri. After Kansas City we moved to Brooklyn [N.Y.].”

Camellia and her family have packed up and changed their living situations for her father’s job more times than she can recall.

“I have global responsibilities,” Kamran said.  “So I have to travel within the US and abroad.”

The Jahanshahis, Kamran, Camellia’s mother, Julie and Camellia’s older brother, Stephan Jahanshahi, moved to Kansas City when Camellia was in the middle of second grade.  These constant changes in location were beneficial to the growth of Camellia’s character and ability to adapt to her surroundings.

“I believe that your personality is made when you’re a kid,” Camellia said.  “The amount of time that I’ve moved and traveled in general has made me develop as a person.  I’ve experienced a lot of cultures.  I’ve realized how people are different.  And, I’ve learned to blend in to most scenarios.  I love that I’ve moved around and been in so many foreign places.  Plus, with my background– my mom’s Southern, my dad’s from Iran– it just suits us.  We’re all hyperaware of the culture that surrounds us.””

Many of the reasons why Kamran decided to move his family around so frequently were for the benefits Camellia and Stephan would in turn receive from being in so many different places.

“Both of my kids had the opportunity to experience different cultures,” Kamran said.  “As a result, they are wiser and more mature dealing with people and dealing with change.  We are more and more becoming a global village and a very mobile society, so I think they will become more successful in their futures.”

Hitting the Road

The first of the month of July, Camellia and her mother woke up early, packed up their car and did a quick check through their now empty house to make sure they weren’t leaving anything behind.

Camellia and Julie squeezed into their Honda Fit, complete with three suitcases, one dog, one cat, one fish, snacks, CDs and movies for the 20-hour drive to their new home in Brooklyn.  Camellia and Julie would be meeting Kamran, who had been living there in a small apartment, working at MetLife since January.

By July 10, Camellia was standing in her new bedroom in the Jahanshahis’ new apartment on the corner of Court Street and State Street, deciding which posters to put up on her new walls.  Joey Ramone facing the north or the west?

Family Time

The family’s constant movement made them closer, especially in new or foreign environments in which language or customs would act as a barrier, separating the Jahanshahis from others in their new country.

‘Basically we were guests living abroad,’ Julie said.

“We have become closer as a family unit,” Kamran said.  “We’ve always had to rely on each other.”

Camellia and her brother, Stephan, have a very close relationship as a result of their family’s moves.  Stephan, who is 21 and attends Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, stayed with his sister and his parents in Brooklyn this summer and spent a lot of time with Camellia.

“Most siblings aren’t as close,” Camellia said.  “We rely on each other a lot, because we’ve been ‘Ëœthe new kid’ a lot. ”

Twists and Turns

After the Jahanshahis decided to move to New York City, they still had several unanswered questions.  How would Camellia complete high school?  Where would she attend?  Would she even need to attend school?

At the beginning of the summer, just before she left for Brooklyn, Camellia intended to enroll in online classes to acquire her necessary high school credits rather than attending a school in New York.  After they arrived, however, she was informed that she needed her GED (General Education Development test), which she had to be 18 to acquire.  Camellia would have to attend high school after all.

“My dad didn’t like the idea of  me going to a public school,” Camellia said.  “So, he applied for me, without asking me, to several private schools. Soon St. Saviour [High School] called and told me I was accepted.”

Traveling Man

For most of Camellia’s life, her father has been away on business trips across the globe.  But she got used to a lifestyle that didn’t always include him.

‘When he was home we lived one way and when he wasn’t home we lived another way,’ Camellia said.  ‘It was kind of like we had two separate households. But his absence wasn’t that big of a deal.  It was just kind of how we lived.’

Despite her father’s frequent travels, Camellia said, he has nonetheless been an reliable parental figure.

‘My dad’s always given me and my family the best that he could,’ Camellia said.  ‘He’s had expectations for himself as a dad and a provider and he’s always lived up to them.’

Foreigners

Born in Iran, Kamran moved to the US when he was 16.  After Kamran and Julie met at the University of Minnesota where they were attending, they decided to marry in 1982.

After college, Kamran decided he wanted a job that involved a lot of traveling and global involvement.

“I was looking for a job where I had a responsibility of international scope,” Kamran said.  “I enjoy working with people from around the world and interacting with different cultures and backgrounds.  In general I just like being able to have a broader view of the world and being involved with it, instead of reading about it or researching it.  I get to experience it first hand.”

Kamran has lived in 11 countries and worked in many more, including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Polland, India, Hungary, Egypt, Japan and China.  Kamran also travels to several foreign countries on business.  In the next few weeks, he will be traveling to Delhi, India, then to Hong Kong and then to Mexico City, all on business for MetLife.

After living in several foreign countries, the Jahanshahis realized the difficulties of having a family in a foreign country.

‘They were amazing locations [where we lived], but we were always foreigners in those locations, which isn’t the best place to raise kids,’ Camellia said.

Kamran also agrees that despite the benefits of living in different places, the family lacked a set place they could call home.

“We haven’t had the opportunity to establish deep roots, so that’s a disadvantge,” Kamran said.  “I’m also sure it’s difficult for the kids to make new friends in new places every time we move.”

Taking away one life for another

Camellia understood her family’s moves when she was a child. But after staying in Kansas City for ten years, she thought she would be able to finish out her high school years until her next move; college.? However, Camellia felt her father found a new job at a pretty inopportune time.

‘I resent [my parents] a little bit for this move,’ Camellia said. ‘I had to leave for my senior year. I’m not going to be able to go to prom or do senior pranks or do Kairos. I resent that they took me away from my friends and my home.’

Julie also had trouble with this move, but preferred it to the alternatives.

‘Mostly I like to move, but this move wasn’t something that I would have chosen,’ Julie said. ‘We tried living apart with [Kamran] commuting but that didn’t work for me. I needed to support our marriage.’

July and August found Camellia in New York City, lonely, sad and missing her friends back home.

‘I miss so much [in Kansas City].,” Camellia said. “I miss my friends so much, and I miss James, my boyfriend so much. I miss having a house. I miss driving my car.’

Trapped at home, Camellia yearned for new friends and new things to do, but she had no resources to find places to go or people to see.

‘For the first two and a half months of being [in Brooklyn] I was pretty much sitting in my room alone or hanging out with my mom,’ Camellia said.

In addition to making herself adjust, Camellia also comforted her mother, who was also having a difficult time with this move, with elements of her life that she loved back in Kansas City.

“My mom took it really hard,” Camellia said. “It happened really fast, it was kind of like a vacuum just turned on and sucked away everything. She loves work and she loves church and she loved the house, the neighborhood. We both agree that this was the hardest move. When we see the ‘I heart NY’ shirts we don’t get it, but we saw an ‘I question mark NY’ and we were like ‘Yes!'”

The new kid

Camellia woke up at 6 a.m. Sept. 24. She groggily walked the six blocks to the subway and boarded the F train with the other early morning commuters.  After she arrived at her stop, she walked another four blocks to St. Saviour High School for her first day of school.

This is the fifth school she’s attended, and just like the others, she was considered the ‘new kid.’

Though this place was different, she still quickly adapted, like she knew she would.

“When i approached [Camellia] I saw that she was sweet and extremely outgoing,” Erica Shwab said. Shwab is a senior at St. Saviour High School this year, and one of Camellia’s closest friends so far. “Camellia has came to my house several times, and I’ve enjoyed the stories she tells and the conversations we have.”

Finding the way home

As Camellia, Julie and Kamran unpacked and set up their apartment, they remembered the last four times they had done so, in four different cities, in three separate countries.

To remind them of their past homes, they brought with them their piano from Kansas City, their Persian rugs, furniture from Belgium, art from Greece, family photos from everywhere and enough memories to fill a lifetime.

“I think each one of us is re-evaluating how we define home,” Julie said.  “Kamran and I have always said home is where your family is.  Having a family together is home.”