Six years ago today, on a sunny, beautiful day, I stepped off a plane in JFK after a whirlwind of adventures, ready to start a new life in a new world. I was moving to New York. That evening, after getting to what would become my home, I took the subway and got to see Central Park for the first time. I sat on a bench looking at the skyline, feeling tired, happy, excited, and grateful.

A lot has happened since then: love and heartbreak, successes and failures, travels and adventures, and so many amazing people along the way.

I got to walk on the Christmas lit streets of NY and see the tree light up at Rockefeller, I got to understand the meaning of Thanksgiving and coming together with a family that wasn’t mine, but somehow became mine, I got to smell the food trucks in NY, walk across…