When you meet someone new, what are the first few questions you ask them? Their name? Their age? How their day is going? For me, a common but hard one to answer is: “Where are you from?” Surprisingly, this easy question can send me reeling in my mind about the right answer to give. How do you answer that when you have lived in multiple places or states? My story is not as dramatic as other stories of some military families or families who have had to move around because of poverty.
I was born and raised in North Carolina. While in North Carolina, I lived in a couple of cities but lived in Apex the longest. When I was about 9 years old, my family moved to California where we lived in Los Angeles with my granddad and eventually moved to a city called Sherman Oaks, California. We only stayed in California for two years before moving back to North Carolina where we lived for another 4 years. In 10th grade we moved to The City Of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. June made this our sixth year here in Philly.
Each state had a special meaning for me, especially North Carolina because I spent the longest time there. I care about the experiences I had in each state and feel strange leaving them out when answering where I’m from. Each experience and environment grew and planted things in me that I use today. I made the mistake once when someone asked: "Where are you from?” by replying: “North Carolina and California.” A very rude and vocal girl exclaimed: “How can you be from two places at the same time?” I replied (thinking I was smart), “because I was born in North Carolina and lived in California for two years.” Looking back now years later, I’m sad to say that she was right. It’s not really possible to be from multiple places, but that does not discount the experience of living in multiple places. I’m proud of the fact that I have lived in different parts of the country. Because of it I have met different types of people from various backgrounds. I have experienced weather year round in different parts of the country and learned to appreciate the music, food, and language the citizens there appreciated. I love Philly, and learned to adapt to the different people and environments I became a part of. I imagine people who have lived in many different places answer this common question by saying they move around a lot, or they just answer by saying their birth place. But, perhaps they cringe a bit also when hearing this question, knowing their answer is much more complex than saying they’ve moved a lot. While in Resident Advisor training, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of Ursinus students I had not known before, so asking where someone is from and other school related questions were very common the first few days. Currently, I answer by saying: “well, I have lived in Philadelphia for six years, but I was born and raised in North Carolina.” This answer satisfies my strange desire to share specific, yet brief details compared to something vaguer.
What is your story? Where have you lived and experienced life? Do you also feel guilty or odd leaving out details of your life you feel are significant to who you are? I sure do.
