As a kid in Gravesend, Brooklyn, I wore my Italianess everywhere in my neighborhood. You could spot it in my walk, my speech, and in my attitude. I guess it was like Tony Manero’s walk in the opening scene of the iconic film Saturday Night Fever.

But to survive, I had to keep my identity in check as I stepped between two different lives: the one I lived at home, and the one I lived at school. They were both very different; it called for code-switching to succeed in both.