My name is Kalsang, I was born in Tibet in 1994 to a nomad family. My parents, my three siblings and I fled to India to escape the Chinese Communist Party when I was 8 years old. We spent a few years in Dharamshala, a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, that has become a sanctuary for Tibetan refugees to preserve their language and culture under the guidance of His Holiness Dalai Lama.

At the age of eleven, we sought asylum and arrived in New York City as a family of 6 including; my parents, Apa and Ama, my big brother and sister, and my younger sister. Our journey led us to settle in the vibrant neighborhoods of Queens and Brooklyn, where I spent the past two decades. During my first decade in the United States, I went by the name FNU, an acronym for First Name Unknown, a designation given to me by the US immigration office due to minor technical paperwork.

Despite its bureaucratic origins, FNU became more than just a name—it became an integral part of my identity, accompanying me from middle school through high school and college until I obtained citizenship and was able to change my name.The story behind FNU took on an added significance as I navigate the complexities of self-identity. Raised in a household of devout Buddhists, I took refuge in the teachings of Dharma when faced with challenges and confusion. Buddhism offers profound wisdom on the subject of self-identity, emphasizing the concepts of emptiness and interdependence. The notion that everything in this universe is void of inherent existence, including oneself. And everything and everyone’s existence depends on something else. With that understanding, FNU became more than just a name designator but helped me better understand myself and the world.