Christopher Michael Donaghy: How Christopher Changed My Life

I was given the name Chase Andrew Miner. My mom had liked the name Chase and Chance, but she finally decided on Chase. While that decision wasn’t too hard for her to make, (at least she said it wasn’t) my last name, Miner, was an even easier decision. My mom was married to my dad and she took his last name, so the obvious last name would be Miner. My mom told me she had a really difficult time figuring out a middle name for me. She couldn’t find a name that fit in well. One day my aunt, Lori, called my mom and asked about the name Andrew. My mom had thought about it and she decided that that name fit. So from that day I was Chase Andrew Miner. The joke my mom says now is if she knew she’d have to chase me so much, she would have named me Slow. But word got around of what

My father named me before I was born. Before the thought of me even existed. Ever since he could remember he wanted a son, and he wanted him to bear the name Zachary. He can’t explain why he had that desire,

Although many people may look at a first name as just another typical name, my first name is Anthony, and in my family the name tends to hold sentimental value to people like my father and a select part of his immediate family. Many people choose to call me Anthony, but I also have select groups of friends and family who choose to call me by nicknames. Certain friends of mine call me Tony, yet a portion of my family prefers Antonio as the nickname of choice. The name Anthony has a bit of personal family history behind it. The best way to sum up this history is through a tragic story. The tragic story behind my name goes like this; I

Names are important to us, as we grow up, our names and our personalities become intertwined, they are how people identify us. So when we adopt a new name, even for a brief period of time, we allow ourselves to essentially become a new person: we can change what we didn’t like about our old selves, and assume new characteristics that we admire in others. For some, it is freeing to embrace a new name, but for others it is comforting to go back to their old one.

Most people have a story about how their parents decided on their name, especially those of us who have less common ones. Mine is fairly dry; my parents looked through a book of names and decided that “Maizie” was charming and sweet and would fit me well. My sister’s story, however, is slightly more intriguing. Cleo Arden Seidl, born on August 3rd of 2001, was named by me, Maizie Regan Seidl, when I was just two years and nine months old.

Would you run off to live in the rigid, dangerous Alaskan wild to get over hardships? Would you survive? A young adult named Christopher McCandless known to many by the name Alex Supertramp abandoned society and traveled through nature in Alaska. He did not survive his trip due to the lack of supplies and resources he had. Despite the fact he was not prepared, he kept a journal recording his day's adventures until the end. After he died, the journal was discovered in an abandoned bus that he dwelled in, and a book was published about his whole journey from start to finish. During his journey he met a lot of people who helped him out, and he formed relationships with them. Many of them admire him. McCandless was a noble character because of his exemplary acts of determination, his free spirit and perseverance through his journey.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a story about a young man named Christopher McCandless who decided to give everything in his life up and venture out to the wilderness of Alaska. He wasn't content with his life. His mission was to truly find himself so he abandoned his family and society to do so. He ended up living 112 days alone in the wilderness of Alaska until he died of starvation. Many people would say the Christopher McCandless was a hero for going against society's norms to find himself, but I believe that he was not a hero and that he was foolish. He abandoned his responsibilities, never told his family his plans of leaving to Alaska and burned his money; these are

Whether McCandless was a vagabond, genius, whack job, free spirit, rebel, or poet, Christopher McCandless (also known by the pseudonym Alexander Supertramp) was unique among men. At an age when most upper-class kids begin their arduous climb toward becoming the next big thing, Christopher McCandless went in the opposite direction—he became a nobody.

In 1992, a young college graduate ventured out into the Alaskan Wilderness, searching for peace and tranquility. Chris McCandless and his family lived in a small town in Virginia. They were an upper middle class family, Chris’s father was a rocket scientist for NASA and his mom was a secretary. Chris was extremely bold and adventurous even early in his childhood. Chris’s parents lied to him until his teenage years about their history together. Chris’s dad, Walter, originally had a different family, whom he left when he discovered that his mistress, Chris’s mom, became pregnant with Chris. Chris did not find this out until the summer after graduating high school, when he traveled all the way to southern California, where old family friends told him about his family’s dark secret. This could arguably have triggered Chris’s later adventure into the wild. When Chris graduated from Emory University with honors in 1990, he had a bright future ahead of him. He could have done almost anything. Instead, he threw away all of his identification, gave his life savings to charity ($24,000), and set out on a drive to the western United States and Mexico. He left no trace of where he was going to his parents or even that he was going anywhere at all, and lost touch with his sister whom he was very attached to. Eventually, he abandoned his car and burnt all of the money he brought. Throughout his two year trek, he met many people of different ages whom he befriended, and considered a

Now my middle name, Janice, is to blame for my four names. When I was born, my parents had already decided on Anna Terese Aucoin, only three names at that time not four, when they realized every grandparent had a namesake except for one, my Maw Maw, Janice Aucoin. Knowing that would upset her, my parents decided to squeeze her name in between my last name and what would have been my middle name, Terese. Despite my parents’ effort to fit it in, I do not invoke it often. Regularly, I try to hide it except for when I’m forced to put it on the occasional standardized tests.

Some young people are inspiration to many and they have unique qualities, but people have been misunderstanding them. Young people think and act differently at times due to different circumstances. Jon Krakauer has written a book about a young, stubborn, unique, idealist named Christopher John McCandless who was also known as Alexander Supertramp in Into The Wild . Chris was in a pursuit of a meaning life. Krakauer never wanted to prove to readers that Chris did the right thing but he just wanted to let them know how unique Chris McCandless was and how and why he chose to live that way and how he died unexpectedly.

I left my castle without my wife and children. I regret not taking them, but it is too late to turn back now. I will have to depend on Ross. After all, he is my cousin by marriage, and my Lady’s cousin by blood. Surely, he will not let anything happen to them. Oh, how I miss them!

Imagine a world where people were self-reliant, and individualistic as opposed to being government-obedient and conformist. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson the people in this world would be living life fully and they would be demonstrating a “happy” life. Probably in a world like this people might be allow themselves to find humor and entertainment in everyday life instead of being bogged down by everyday woes. Sounds like an ideal world to me and probably Ralph Emerson, and Ambrose Bierce as well. Just like our current world this imaginary world would have its own downfalls.

Matthew - I remember writing my real first name for the first time, then I turned 11. Since I was born I had always been called by my middle name which is Clayton. No one in my life called me Matthew, except when my parents were mad at me, until I lived in Florida 6 years ago. I know that I had written my real first name before I had moved to Florida but for some reason I couldn’t recall this time and how to spell it. So after I had moved to Florida and I walked into my new home, the classroom, for the next year I was told to write my name on a piece of paper that was a little test about

My names Gabriel Hudson, I hated my name it for some reason, when I was innocent and blind to societies imperfections, I wanted a “cool name” that was popular among my peers. When I was younger I never knew the importance that a name could possess. I never really thought about having to fight for anything or having to struggle to have a life that is so weighed down by the gravity that money has in our society. Money has always been relevant and at the forefront in my family. My parents are extremely diligent and would be part of the category of misfits, I have stated previously. My parents knew how the world is and tried their best to prepare me for that. Being named after an archangel in the Bible, not because they think i’m an angel to have as a child, but because he’s strong and fights for what’s right and good in people. I am now coming to this realization as I become a young adult and seeing that life is not fair and people like me who does not have as much wealth and resources to be set for greatness. People like me have