Meet Rokhaya: her experience with labeling and combining different interests

„I don´t think there will come a time when people will stop labeling me based on my background. At least not anytime soon,” says Rokhaya in our video call from Munich to London as she sits in her bed on a lazy Sunday morning, which we spent together talking about identity, dance, fashion, physical therapy, and sustainability. Some may wonder, what all these things have in common. They are all equally important parts of her unique identity and diverse lifestyle, which I was excited to know about.

If we were to use labels for the introduction, Rokhaya Gueye is a 21-year-old student of Ergotherapy based in Prague, Czech Republic. She is also a dancer, performer, nurse, member of a modeling agency, and physical therapist. Since labels were something we came across a lot during our interview, I feel the need to introduce her with more than a few words. So let´s get into it.

Although Rokhaya has grown up in the Czech Republic, her background is partly based in Senegal. “In retrospect, the biggest influence when I was growing up was the Czech culture, so I didn’t feel a taste of my African culture in me until I was an adult when I started to take more interest in it myself.” She says growing up in the Czech Republic, which she considers largely her home, was challenging at times, because she always knew not everyone was completely accepting of her. “I’ve been affected a lot by having to find my own way of dealing with these people who might have a problem with me and don’t accept me. I think I’m still struggling a lot to this day.”

As a way of discovering accepting and her own identity turned out to be dancing, which started just as a hobby when she was a kid. “Dance helped me a lot. It is a thing that actually teaches you to work with your whole body but also with your mind and soul, which I like,” states Rokhaya, who has been dancing now for over 10 years. Her experience in competitive dancing and the art of movement itself was one of the reasons why she was recruited to be a part of a  successful and very progressive modeling agency.  This allowed her to work on many large projects, performances, and photo shoots and appear in the Czech art and fashion scene.

The fashion industry in the Czech Republic is not only moving forward in inclusivity but is also focusing more and more on sustainability, upcycling clothing, and vintage pieces. Rokhaya herself has appeared in campaigns promoting reused clothing and sustainability. “I really like that today’s fashion is very much based on vintage clothing and that it is actually related to what’s going on in the world.  I think it is amazing that now, especially young people are wearing mostly vintage clothes because we’re not making more useless clothes.” I replied with a question if she thinks sustainability is only a fashion trend that may come and go, just as any other trend. “It’s definitely a trend. But it´s still actually a good thing even if it is just a trend, it’s making something better, so either way, it’s cool,” she replied.

There are many more things that fill up Rokhaya´s schedule. Her creative side is now partly outshined by her studies of Ergo therapy. After becoming a nurse and working with physically disabled people, she decided to pursue her long-time career dream of becoming an Ergo therapist. “My work has only made me more confident that Ergo therapy is the field I want to be in and work in.” That does not mean, that she is planning to focus on one thing only. As we discussed, she plans to pursue everything she is passionate about. “I don’t ever want to lose my part of dancing, performing, and various other artistic things. I don’t think it’ll ever leave me because it’s a big part of me. I feel like dance is a very therapeutic thing for me and others, so I don’t ever want to stop it directly and I’d rather like to combine all of these different things.”

As she stated, Rokhaya has never been the one to focus on one thing and identify herself with just one label in one field, which is something she has encountered from others many times in the past, despite her being someone with very diverse interests. She said people mostly tend to label her based on her race. “People do that a lot. I get labeled the most when it comes to my ethnicity, especially in the Czech Republic. Of all the different boxes, people always put me in the Senegalese box. In the Czech Republic, I get more questions about my race than who I am or what I enjoy, which is for example different in London,” where Rokhaya lived for several months.

“When people see me, they are less surprised by the fact that I am a dancer, based on my roots than by the fact that I am a physical nurse. People trust me, that I know my way around dance, but not that I know my way around taking care of disabled people.”

She does not think people will stop labeling her anytime soon, maybe ever. Even though she finds it quite tiring. She said, she has come to terms with dealing with constant labeling and is now aware of her uniqueness and proud of her different interests, which are also the reason I have chosen her as the person to interview.