I Hate When People Ask Me 'Where Are You From?'

When meeting new people in college you are occasionally asked the same three basic questions:

1. "What is your name?"

2. 'What is your major?"

3. "Where are you from?"

The first two questions I can handle with ease, but question number three has also been one that is not so easy to answer. I often hesitate and end up sighing before I say, "do you want the long answer or the short answer?". The long answer is what usually gets spewed out quickly.

I have lived in a couple of places. I've lived locally in Tucson, Northern New York, and Northern Virginia. This is all because I am a military brat, a child with a parent in the military. So, when people ask me where I am from, I am not very sure about how they want me to answer. Do they want to know where I was born? Where the longest place I lived was? Where do I feel like I grew the most? Where I high school graduated from? Or simply, where my favorite place to live was? These are some of the questions that run through my mind before I give that sigh.

Honestly, it has come to the point where I can tell my whole life story within a minute. However, this does not include all the amazing opportunities I have had in living in all these places. Without this lifestyle, I would not have been able to travel to the east coast as I have. I wouldn't be able to take quick trips to Washington D.C. or casually take a drive to Boston. Since I went to two middle schools and two high schools, I have more friends than I would've had if I had just stayed in Arizona. All of the hundreds of people I have met live all over the country, and even around the world. I have made connections that will most likely benefit in the long run. I knew after these quick-changing five years I wanted to go to University where I could settle down.

Living in Tucson before moving so much is ultimately what led me to go to the U of A. The idea of familiarity was comforting after living on the east coast. It was strange to be called a local, but at the same time, not be as knowledgeable as the other locals here. Often if I claimed that Tucson is where I was from, the other locals would then ask me where I went to high school at. Once again, I would have to tell the story about how I moved around so much only to come back to Tucson for school.

Overall, I still do not know how to answer this question. I do not think that I will actually be able to answer it until I plant my roots. I am thankful that soon enough when people ask where I am from, I will not have to stumble across my words, but will be able to give a solid answer like everyone else.