Flustered looks and pure speechlessness are common expressions for Jennifer when asked to state her full name.
Her unique surname is pronounced like this: Su-ri-ya-ja-ya. That’s too much of a mouthful, isn't it?
Imagine spelling out your last name to almost everyone who asks you for it. That was Jennifer's life growing up. Since others found her surname a challenge to pronounce, she regarded it as a hindrance in her fast-paced life and a scar on her identity.
During her teenage years, she read the Improper Bostonian's interview with Uzoamaka Aduba, the actress who plays “Crazy Eyes” on the hit Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, about Aduba's challenges with just as complicated surname as Jennifer's.
Aduba's quote that resonates with Jennifer most says, “if they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka.”
Now, Jennifer embraces the complexity of her surname. She realizes her surname is what sets her apart from others and she is proud of it. Jennifer carries the name as a symbol of success.