As a little girl, I always thought it was fun to think of what kind of ancestors I had.

Sometimes I would pretend I had a great great great grandmother who personally knew the King of France or something along those lines so in a way I was a princess. Other times my ancestors were African American slaves who trekked through the underground railroad to freedom and we’re also best friends with Harriet Tubman. At one point I even danced around the idea of them being Vikings, sailing around the world and discovering new places.

I guess I did this because part of me was always trying to figure out who I was, where I came from. Being raised by a single mother was the highlight of my childhood, something I am incredibly proud of because it shows single parents can do it all and more.

However, I won't lie when I say that maybe I felt like something was missing. I was mixed and I was smart enough to understand that my father was Black. However, I didn't know how to identify that way which I definitely know is why I struggled with that self-identify for years.

Thanks to my friends and my handsome chocolate man of a boyfriend, I was able to find that identify I was looking for. To take pride in my caramel skin and my unruly curly black hair. Realizing how beautiful you are as a biracial woman is one of the most powerful points in my life.

But I wanted more. You see missing half of your tree kind of puts a dent in the whole ancestor thing. I knew another girl who did an Ancestry DNA kit just for fun, just because her parents didn't really know their heritage. She got back tons of results that even her parents were surprised by, leading them into this exciting heritage adventure here they all got to learn so much about ancestors dating back to the 1700’s.

I thought that was awesome. You got to explore the past, connect with unknown family, build a family tree and see what ethnicity you held. This past February Ancestry had a sale and I dropped my $69 like it was hot. I knew that to get the answers I wanted, this is something I needed to do. Plus, I was interested, curious about myself, especially the side I didn't really know.

The kit came, I gave them my DNA, and I sent it off. Four weeks later an email popped into my box with the announcement, “Your DNA results are in.”

Palms slightly sweaty with shaky hands, I clicked through tabs on the internet as fast as possible to my results. Scandinavian. British. Irish. I had parts of me from the Congo, France, and Nigeria. This was me, all laid out on a silver platter. It was enlightening, enriching and oh so nice to have that final answer at my fingertips.

I look at it practically every day and am currently building my family tree. It may be considered a lot of money but it’s something I believe everyone should do. Whether or not you know your ancestors or you have two parents, finding that ancient self-identity can give you insights you could never have had before. It could also give you the truth because your family could swear you guys are Irish but, SURPRISE, you're Italian so time to switch the kilt for some pasta.

Self-Identity is something people are always searching for. I went searching for myself years ago and am finally getting into the thick of finding myself in my culture, in my heritage, through a simple little kit.

So for those looking for yourselves, take the test, whether that’s through Ancestry or somewhere else, do it. The benefits are amazing and you even get connections to other people on Ancestry you could be related to. For those not looking for themselves, do it anyways, for fun. See where you came from, see if there is royalty somewhere in that family line because I mean, you could be missing out.

In all honesty, we owe it to our ancestors to look at them, see what they did. Some of them went through hell and back to get us to where we are today so at least learning a name or two, at least seeing what they did, shows honor to those that came before us. So do it. Go explore. Adventure is out there.