Who Do You Think You Are?

The other day, I spent an afternoon curled up on the couch, watching episode after episode of an intriguing show called Who Do You Think You Are? In the show, celebrities are taken on a journey to explore their family tree, and basically learn about who they are and where they came from. They begin by talking to their family, generally with questions about a certain branch of the family. Then, through the help of genealogists and historians, have their questions answered, sometimes traveling all over the globe.

I have always been fascinated with family trees. My mother is from Spain, and my father from the States. The fact that my family is scattered across the globe has probably contributed to why genealogy is something I can easily get sucked into. I have a wide mix of nationalities, including Cherokee, Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French.  Trying to imagine how those nationalities came together in the first place and how they are connected to me is almost mind-boggling.

When you think about it, the only reason you exist right now, as the way you are, is because of all of your predecessors. Your existence is literally a one in a million chance. Perhaps it is for this very reason that we often feel a need to know where we come from. Knowing the stories of our ancestors, I think, helps ourselves define who we are. For example, Zooey Deschanel was on the show of Who Do You Think You Are? She wanted to explore how far back strong female characters went in her family. As it turns out, there is a very long line of them. Deschanel considers herself a feminist, and now she knows that empowered women really do run in the family.

My immediate family, as a whole, enjoys traveling. Since my father was formerly in the military, my family has gotten to travel to all kinds of places. Each parent and every sibling, excluding one of my brothers, were born in a different state or country. We like adventure. This adventurous quality exists on both sides of my family, particularly on my father’s side. My dad’s family is scattered with army and air force personnel, with next generations carrying the torch and continuing the tradition. The military aspect of my family is one of my definers; I am a proud American and enjoy a traveler’s life.

Perhaps even more intriguing than knowing where you come from by studying your genealogy are the connections you make. Not only are you connected to your family by blood, but also by the things you do and enjoy. Come from a family that is particularly artistic? Three generations back, you might find someone who managed to win some sort of award or otherwise have their work on display somewhere. You might learn something about your family that could answer questions you have about yourself. Or maybe you’ll find a bounty of stories to pass on to the generations to come.

What Makes a Good Autobiography?

One of the graduation requirements for my school is writing an autobiography. We need at least seventy-five pages, documenting our high school career and other significant pieces of our life that we deem necessary to tell our story. Of course, since writers write what they know, this should be easy right? After all, I’m literally telling the story of my life so far. As it turns out, going back and remembering what I was like a few years back, and making a string of events all connect to tell one big story is more difficult than it seems.

Since I like taking normal things to another level (often over-complicating my life) I decided to Google what makes a good autobiography. With a mix of WikiHow, eHow, and other sites, here are three keys to writing a good autobiography.

Number one: create a timeline. You have to dive into the depths of your memory, picking out events from your life that shaped your journey. These are events that often surface immediately, and are a good place to start. For example, your first day of primary school or perhaps the death of a loved one. Compile a list of events and memories (ten seems to be a good number) that are particularly important to you; this is your life story. Sometimes looking through old pictures, or talking to friends and family, can jog your memory.

Number two: have a theme. When you think about it, writing out your life story is not too far removed from writing a fictional story. Every person has their own individual experience, and their own personality developed from it. The way you tell your story is just as important as the tale itself. My autobiography focuses on my high school experience, and will probably be comprised of flashbacks to my childhood throughout a chronological series of events from the year 2010 up until the spring of 2014. Basically, to formulate your theme, ask yourself this: what is the story I am trying to tell? Is it how you became a published author? Or about a six month journey at sea? Or becoming a grandmother? There is more to an autobiography than the physical events. The emotions you felt, what drove your decisions, all culminating into why you are the person you are today.

And finally—actually start writing. Sit down for a minimum of fifteen minutes a day, writing out the pieces. Don’t get your panties in a bunch over proper grammar. Let yourself rant. Tell your story. You’ll have time to edit later. Tap into all the sensory details, and allow the reader (or yourself) to live the memories in their mind. A good story captivates the reader in a way that transports them into your past. Bring the reader on a journey that is worthwhile, and in the end, maybe they will learn something. And maybe after all that writing, you will learn a thing or two about yourself as well.

For the Love of Reading

When was the last time you held a new story in your hands? Either a good ole paperback or the newest eBook you’ve added to your digital collection, they both count. Every time I find a new book in my hands, I treat the book almost in a regal manner. I observe the big title in print and miniscule details of the cover art. I run my fingers across the front cover, trying to find what modern texture the publisher provided for our discovery. The book feels comfortable in my hands, my mind whirring, becoming even keener on the journey this story would soon sweep me into.

Lifting the cover, I try to take in every detail: the spine creaking, two title pages, with copyright and publishing information sandwiched between. The book dedication written in italics, as it is in so many other stories. Some books even provide the reader with excerpts from poems or quotes that have something to do with the adventure lying within the pages beyond. Authors then greet us with some sort of note, or a prologue. But sometimes we are sucked right into the story, starting on chapter one.

I always turn the first few pages slowly, treading carefully. Without being entirely aware of it, the words suck me right into the story. Before I know it, my eyes are gobbling up the print, and the pages begin to go by faster and faster. The story becomes home, and comes with me everywhere; to the coffee shop, the dance studio after school, onto an airplane. I read sitting upright, curled in a ball, or upside down, hanging off of my bed, totally comfortable and caught up in the story.

Over the past year, I’d nearly forgotten what it is like to start a new book and really fall into it. While living in Spain, most of the reading I did was of books I had read previously in English. Coming back to the States, I had to retrain myself a bit in the reading department. At the time I had begun The Fellowship of the Ring and taking classes at a university. In the span of eight months, I read college textbooks and managed to read three books on my own time. In comparison to the amount of reading I used to do, this was slightly disappointing.

I have created a goal for myself, and that is to read at least one book every month. To make this undertaking even more fun, I’ll be reviewing each book I read in the form of a vlog. Ah, yes to taking on more projects!

I already have a lengthy list of books I intend on reading, but what others would you suggest? For August, I decided to read Paper Towns, a novel by John Green (and it is fabulous, if I may say so myself).

The College Debate: East versus West

After taking a road trip down and up the East coast, visiting a variety of states, and spending a week in Florida, I’ve been reminded of how much fun it is to be stuck in a car for eight or more hours. Especially when there are mini-wars over various snack foods. In the two weeks my family and I were traveling and vacationing, we traveled over 3,000 miles by car and managed to survive with minimal hotel Wi-Fi the whole time. Now that I am home and settling in for the upcoming school year, I will begin to post regularly once again.

Speaking of the upcoming school year, I have yet another post on college. I’m applying for colleges in September, and have been looking up schools all across the country. During the process, I discovered that there is a bit of an infamous debate over which U.S. coast is the best coast: East or West? For college, I would like to live in a city. In order to discern the pros and cons to each coast, I focused on cities. From the West I have Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. From the East I have Boston, New York, and Washington DC.

First of all, I’m going to start with the general view there is with each coast, or rather the characteristics of each coast’s character. The East coast is generally more conservative, formal, and crowded. The West coast is viewed as more liberal, easy-going, and open (space-wise). Let me tell you now that the closest I have lived to the West coast is Idaho, and I currently live on the East coast. I’m also the kind of person who is fascinated by places I have yet to go to. Thus, I will probably talk more about the West than the East.

My mentality is to go to a college that is near a place where I would like to live after college. For many years I have wanted to live in Seattle, mostly because of a Nickelodeon show called iCarly. So of course, I looked for colleges in the area, and found what I thought to be a perfect fit. After a few years on the East coast, it would be really nice to move somewhere a smidge more relaxed and “open-minded”. It is a different lifestyle that fascinates me. Then again, visiting my family would be difficult, what with the entire country between me and home. I then looked for colleges on the East coast. There are countless colleges in Boston that have what I want to study. New York City is nice, but a huge city with many distractions, at least for me. Then there’s Washington DC, which would certainly be an interesting place to live, being the nation’s capital.

I want to be a writer for a magazine eventually, maybe even work toward being an editor. I want to work with people to achieve a common goal by brainstorming ideas and then making them happen. I want to decrease world suck in whatever way I can. The East might have some of those things, but the West is thriving with life in comparison. For college, I might just stay near home, and then make the big move out West later on. But for now, I need to work on actually getting into college. Until then, I will continue exploring Chicago and Seattle through Google maps.