It is not unusual for people to grapple with finding their identity. However, a unique experience exists for people who must traverse a world while contending with having dual identities that literally, make them a whole: people who identify as biracial.

While many people will admit to trying to find balance between the various parts that make them a whole, those who are biracial must deal with it at face value.

Jason Granfelt, an 18-year-old psychology freshman, remembers certain comments made during his younger years that served as a constant reminder that he was different from others.

Granfelt is half black and half white and was raised primarily around Caucasians, but grew up in a predominately black neighborhood, and recounts the difficulty that came with trying to find his voice in such a mixed environment.

“Because I would use lotion [sometimes], [my family] would be like, ‘Why are you acting black?,’ because during the summer I would get darker and my skin is gonna get all dry and chalky, [and] it’s not OK,” Granfelt said. “When I was younger I would be like, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t do [things like] this.,’ but now I’m just like, ‘This is what I want to do.’ You just have to develop a thicker skin.”

For 18-year-old physics freshman Bianca Hill, being biracial has come with its own share of issues that she was forced to deal with throughout her childhood, and now into her present.

“Growing up I was surrounded by a lot of my family … so I had a lot of diversity, a lot of culture growing up, but as I got older through the years, my dad didn’t take me around his family as much because my whole life, I’ve been going through Catholic private schools, so they always thought I was better than them, and he didn’t want me to be around them,” Hill said.

Hill, who is half black and half filipino, acknowledges that her relationship with her dad’s side of the family has gotten better, but admits the strain impacted her when she was younger as her confidence was lowered.

For many biracial people, the struggle is internal as they maneuver through various hoops in an attempt to discover where they fit in and who they are.

During his childhood, Granfelt oftentimes felt like he had to align with one side of his racial identity in order to find acceptance.

“It was harder, I would say, as a child from ages 6-12, because of how light I am. When you’re younger, you don’t have as much confidence, or assert yourself as much, like now when people say, ‘Oh you dress white.,’ [now] it’s like, ‘No, I’m black and white,’ but back then it was like, ‘Oh, maybe I should just act white.’”

Jennifer Devera, a 22-year-old communication studies senior, agrees with Granfelt’s comments in the sense that she felt the need to conform more to the stereotypes associated with her Peruvian side, as opposed to those of her Filipino side.

“When I was little, I used to live in the Bay and I got made fun of a lot for being Asian. It didn’t even matter to them what kind of Asian it was, just because the school I went to was primarily white and [Latino]. That being that, I tried to adhere more to my Peruvian side, so I went through like, a little chola phase before I moved to Stockton,” said Devera.

The disconnect many biracial people feel with one side of their ethnicities can oftentimes make them feel as if they missed out on certain events or experiences in relations to their ethnicity.

Nino Hoder, a 23-year-old social work senior who is half black and half white, explains the disconnection from his black side caused him to feel unprepared for some of the realities he would face growing up as a biracial man.

“I was raised by my white, single mother, so that was more or less a little bit of a culture shock. Growing up mixed in San Francisco, being raised by a white single mother, you know, kind of puts you out of perspective of what your culture is about,” Hoder said. “I definitely missed out on some experiences that a black male should [know about] as a child, but that came later in my life.”

Hoder explains incidents such as people questioning his mother as to whether or not she was in fact his mom, or seeing people cross to the other side of the street as he was walking down, served as eye-openers.

While Hoder and others who are biracial are able to stand strong in who they are, they are still forced to deal with labels thrust upon them by other people.

“Now I get from a lot of people, ‘Why do you act black?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t act anything.’ This is who I am,” Granfelt said.

Though a majority of people who are biracial cite numerous incidents of racially insensitive comments hurled their way, and other derogatory experiences due to their mixed background, most acknowledge their past experiences helped shape who they are.

“[My experiences] made me who I am today. [They] made me a stronger person, and I know how to deal with… people who are racist and stereotypical towards me,” Hill said.

While many biracial people admit to embracing their past experiences, they also admit to wishing they had an easier time melding both sides of their ethnicities when they were younger.

“ … Accepting that I was more Filipino instead of [just] my hispanic side, I wish if I would have done that, I would [probably] have had a different set of friends in the Bay area,” Devera said.

In spite of how they may be perceived by people, those who are biracial have learned to embrace their differences, and hope other people will be able to do the same.

“People who are biracial or like, mixed, they just have to embrace themselves and be confident with who they are and what their background is because that’s what makes a person confident. That’s what makes them who they are. And for people who aren’t biracial and they’re just one culture [or] one ethnicity, they just have to be open to everybody, and learn about it and educate themselves, and not be ignorant about the topic,” Hill said.