JULIA WIJESINGHE

Entrepreneurship is the key driving force that help us evolve in the current world. It helps us explore further into the unknown, to create experiences that have not been present, or that have not been accessible. Today, we have with us a young, beautiful, Sri Lankan entrepreneur, who has created a portal to the real Sri Lankan cultural experience in Staten Island, New York. Say hello to Julia Wijesinghe!

It’s a pleasure to chat with you Julia. Tell me a bit about yourself; your childhood, family and your educational interests?

    The pleasure is all mine Hirushi! So growing up, I've always been a curious child and walked around as if I were an explorer; especially when I'm in Sri Lanka, I would question everything I see and be so inspired by it. And the person I'll ask will be my grandma; thanks to her, she took me around Sri Lanka every time I visited and made me fall in love with Sri Lanka. Besides, being an explorer, if you play music, be sure I'll be right there dancing; that's something I love doing. I learned Sri Lankan dancing at the age of three and gradually started ballet, jazz and tap. But I have been learning Bharatanatyam for the past ten years and performed professionally. If you may ask anyone about me, they'll say I'm a chatterbox and I’m goofy. I love to be happy, and I try my best to do that with everyone. I'm the only child. My parents opened the first Sri Lankan restaurant right here in New York City as well. Therefore, when it comes to my educational interest, I take my own time learning about Sri Lankan history because I have a rightful duty to share my cultural history with the world. In University, I'm a Double Major in Accounting and Cinematography. My plans after graduating college are to document Sri Lankan history and just travel around Sri Lanka, recording every moment of it.

 What is your connection with Sri Lanka like? What do you like about it the most?

  My connection to Sri Lanka initially was an unknown place when I first landed in the Island with my parents at the age of three. Being a curious child and eager to know everything about my surroundings in Sri Lanka became part of my heart. My grandma was the key to my heart. If it weren't for her taking me around and teaching me how to speak Sinhala, I would be another kid living abroad and know nothing about my culture. But today, I'm proud to have immense pride for my parent's country and doing my duty as a proud Sri Lankan. What I love the most about Sri Lanka is the people, atmosphere, and history. Just walking around different historical places in Sri Lanka, all I can imagine was reading about these places, and what has taken place on this very ground and all the stories my grandma told me. When I walk around, I feel like I'm walking down the words I read about this place, going back in time; and feeling what they felt.

Also, before I forget the food, I can never get tired of Sri Lankan food; especially being a vegetarian, there are so many varieties to eat, which makes it a heavenly place for me.

As someone who was born and raised in the United States, how important was it for you to culturally identify yourself as a Sri Lankan? 

  I was born and raised in New York. Living in a city that's so diverse, made it so natural to be proud to embrace my own culture among other people that are from different countries around the world. We were all in common just by being raised here, but we had many differences, making us all unique and having a tremendous easy conversation. Sharing my culture was so important to me when representing my parents’ country there was nothing more I enjoyed.

What inspired you to create a Sri Lankan Museum experience in the States?

  Simply put, my inspiration would be my goals and dreams that I have aspired to achieve since I was very young. My parents have done a lot for the Sri Lankan community, including opening the first Sri Lankan restaurant in the USA, here in New York City. So, as a result of seeing them take pride in their culture, it inspired me to do something on my own to represent my parent's country as well.
 

What is the experience like, being a part of and managing a museum! What challenges have you faced? 

  Honestly, I love challenges, especially facing them at a very young age. It helps me grow into the person I am today with the guts to prove that if you stick with something in your mind to go after it; till it's accomplished. Some of the biggest challenges I had to face were establishing the museum and getting it up and running, and taking the responsibility of opening up the first Sri Lankan museum abroad. It is not easy to open up a museum in New York. Another challenge was to gather all the artifacts and artwork that I required that wouldn't have been possible without the help of my father, who also helped organize everything the way I pictured it. But one thing I remembered was when I was working on the Museum project at the age of fifteen, was that I didn't have anyone to look up to besides my parents. I gradually understood that what I'm doing is something that no one has done before, which gave me more motivation, to not follow but to be a leader and to influence others.

Why did you feel it was important to create awareness about Sri Lanka and its treasures?

  It made me feel it was essential to create awareness about Sri Lanka and its treasure because I wanted the world to know how rich our culture is and how unique we are. First, I don't do this for me, but I do this for all fellow Sri Lankans out there and the future generation to feel proud of their country even though they are abroad or live in Sri Lanka. Growing up, I had my cousins and friends who didn't want to speak their native language because they thought it was uncool, but who are we to blame them while there wasn't anyone in their age group making a difference but uplifting the Sri Lankan Culture. For me growing up, it was different. I was so eager to learn my parent's native language. So today, I want to inspire my generation and the future generation to be proud of being a Sri Lankan.
 

What are some of your memorable milestones as a youth public figure and social entrepreneur?

  So far, the most significant milestone as a youth public figure I have achieved is the title of being the world's youngest museum owner while also opening the first Sri Lankan Museum outside of Sri Lanka. A writer named Ian Frazier wrote about me in "The New Yorker Magazine" and later on I found out that I'm the first Sri Lankan girl to be mentioned in this Magazine. Honestly, everyone started to find out about me, and my work through that article. 

I'll continue to make Sri Lanka proud and wave our flag for the world to see.