Sierra Anderson
Sierra Anderson has spent her life in and around the ocean. Since she was little, her family was constantly at the beach and Sierra was constantly in the water. In school, because she went to international schools growing up, she was constantly surround by mixed kids like herself, but also kids from all around the world. Because of this she grew up with a vast amount of different cultures at her finger tips.
Sierra didn’t really pick up surfing until around the age of 13. Prior to that point, she went to a school that was far away from where she lived and because of that it was difficult to have a steady group of friends to hang out with when she was home. When she was about 13 however, she moved to a school right by her house and suddenly made a group of friends she could surf with almost everyday.
At that time, Sierra and her friends essentially lived on the beach at Padang Padang. Because they all lived in really close by to one another in the Bukit Peninsula of Bali, most days after school were spent at the beach, learning to surf together. Sierra and her friends still spend time at that beach and it is because of those early years that they have such a deep connection to that area.
When she was 16, Sierra fell in love with the sport of freediving. She had always enjoyed being in the ocean and diving so when she entered into a short freediving course, she got fully absorbed into it. In no time she was already diving to depths of 60 ft in a mater of days. Soon it became apparent that she had some serious talent for the sport and her coach proposed that she should try to break the nation record. So, right around Sierra’s 17th birthday, she attempted, and claimed, the Indonesian Women’s Record for the deepest freedive at a depth of 28m (91ft). As amazing as that is, what even crazier is that Sierra may be the youngest person ever to hold a national freediving record.
But for Sierra, she identifies much more as Indonesia that she does American, and has a lot of pride for her Indonesian heritage. Sierra’s family and her make a major effort to be a part of the village they live in and are very active in participating in ceremonies, which us somewhat uncommon for mixed families. In Bali nowadays, it is easy to surround yourself with westerners given the island’s popularity around the world in recent years. But for Sierra, she loves being able to be a part of the community and the ceremonies and see the people of the village she lives in as friends.
Overall, Sierra sees being a mixed kid as something really positive overall. In her opinion, because she has grown up with this sort of split identity it has allowed her to experience the ins and outs of two drastically different types of cultures and lifestyles. On top of that, she counts herself lucky to be a part of the community that is “mixed kids,” both in Bali and beyond, and for the cultural richness that comes along with it.
When I asked about her experience growing up with this sort of split cultural identity between Indonesian and American, she admitted it was definitely different than your average childhood, but she counts herself lucky. Lucky for being able to be exposed to so many different walks of life such as in the schools she attended growing up. Because of that experience she has friends from all over the globe with countless different perspectives on life.
That being said, she also felt that when she would go to events or ceremonies with the village, she definitely was not treated or seen as full Indonesian. That’s not to say she was treated poorly in any way, it was just very clear that she wasn’t 100% Indonesian. On the other side of that, when she comes to the United States, she definitely does not feel fully American either. When she’s there, there are so many normalities that and cultural things that she just doesn’t understand and because of that, Sierra doesn’t feel like she belongs there at all.
