Iranian-American youth struggle to define themselves

It's a first-generation story as old as the United States. It's so common that Ayandeh counselors said the camp was created three years ago to address both Iranian and American parts of a new generation of Iranian-American youth -- a community they define as being "hyphenated."

"We're really becoming mindful of how we define things," said Natasha Sallahi, a first-time counselor and aspiring filmmaker. "We realize that sometimes one word doesn't cover it all. So we're trying to create better definitions ... by putting two things [Iranian-American] together."

Camp Ayandeh is sponsored annually by Iranian Alliances Across Borders, a largely volunteer organization funded by individual donors and PARSA, a California-based philanthropic organization. First established on Thompson Island off eastern Massachusetts, Ayandeh began its gradual migration south the second year -- setting up at a campgrounds near Fairfax, Virginia.

Iranian-American teens from high schools across the nation now flock to the new Georgia address to learn about their heritage and ask questions that range from relationships and college admissions to sexual orientation and discrimination -- issues that can come with distinctly different social parameters than their parents were once accustomed to in Iran.

Camp counselor Siavash Samei remembers such angst all too well.

"There was not a single person that I could look at and say, 'He is me,' " Samei said, describing an absence of elder Iranian-American role models. " 'He is what I can do. He can snap and he can dance. And at the same time, he can talk English without an accent.' "