Imagine this; it's a hot July day. You've been at the family reunion for 20 minutes, the potato salad was excavated upon your arrival, and you only know half of these relatives. To your left your mother talking sounds like the adults on "Charlie Brown". To your right, your great-cousin is guarding a brief case filled with the ancestral records. With all this commotion the only thing running through your mind is, "Why is this important?"

We've all been there, we have all sat unhappily at a family reunion and questioned our bloodlines. Literally, we have all wondered if we are truly related to these people. We take for granted the fact that some of our families have only been here for half a century. That means just 50 years ago some our ancestors were in a different country, on a different continent, with less freedom than we have been given.

"But why do I need to research my family history?"

You know the freedoms we just talked about? Does it shock you to think about your great-grandmother not having those freedoms? Can you imagine your own family member living somewhere that doesn't allow him or her the right to vote? Researching our ancestry allows us to get a more personal understanding of history. Right now I am in an English 402 class, it's Holocaust Studies. I have both Russian and Jewish roots. This has opened up many conversations in class, it has allowed me to have a different perspective on immigration and acceptance of other cultures. Knowing your family roots makes geography easier too. Once I was at work and someone in the break room asked, "What continent is Israel located on?" I was able to explain that it is actually located in Asia rather than Africa. My co-workers respected me a lot more after this.

Every Christmas Eve we hide a glass pickle ornament around the house and the young kids have to find it. Whoever finds it first gets an extra present from Santa. For years I thought that every family did this as a holiday tradition. Well, it turns out no one else does this and they all think we are crazy. They are right but that's not the point. Family traditions originate in your roots. The simple things such as eating corned beef and cabbage for good luck all originated somewhere else.

Speaking of food, most cultures have their own style of cooking. My Lithuanian boyfriend and I decided that we would make potato pancakes for dinner one night. So we are both in the kitchen, we're washing potatoes, and I notice he pulls out a grater. Now, my version of potato pancakes involves making mashed potatoes and then forming those into patties. His version involves grating the potatoes. After some arguing his dish won. Were my eyebrows raised the whole time he cooked? Yes. Eventually he tried my way of correctly making them and he knows mine are the best (I'm kidding).

So you are probably thinking, "these are all valid points you have been presented but Ancestry.com is so expensive!"

What if I said Ancestry.com isn't the only way to research family history?

For me, I was lucky enough to find a letter from a family member that included names, dates, and a very important island. Ellis Island was the passageway into the United States up until the early 1950s. Immigration records from Ellis Island are very helpful in research but you need to know the full last name they used. Many immigrants shortened or even changed their name so they wouldn't be labeled as an immigrant. If you run into this problem look up immigration record Facebook groups. Do you know the country they left? Many people devote their free time to helping others find this information. You can meet new people and learn about yourself too.

Once you finally sift and piece together the information, you will notice that names start to get more familiar as you catch up to modern times. I was digging through records and when I came across my Grandma's name, I couldn't help but smile. To lose a grandparent and then to find them on an online family tree is an emotional moment. Sometimes you will hit the target and find a missing piece of information. Sometimes you dig too deep and wonder if Homeland Security is watching you. The best part is when you can start to see the bloodlines settle down and get closer to your birth. It's almost like a story that you already know the end of but there is only more to add.

The next time you are sitting at the family reunion begging your mom to let you go home, embrace the opportunity. That may be your last opportunity to speak with a family member about the history. As crazy as this may sounds you are your blood. You are the related to the people that drive you insane at holidays and you can't change this. In my high school there was a bulletin board at the top of the stairs, with construction paper and some stickers, it simply said, "Grow where you are planted." I love that.

We are all just seedlings uprooted, planted in a new land, and forced to grow. You can't change your roots or your soil. You can't help it that your Great-Grandfather once sold his car to buy circus animals. All you can do is laugh and know that's your blood right there. My Grandma had matryoshka dolls and now I'm starting to collect my own. As I dive deeper into my fashion career, I find myself more and more inspired by Slavic dress.

So the answer to your question, "Why is family history important?" Because your family had to make the brave choice to flee a country, to enter a country to start a new life, so that someday you may be you.