Personal Narrative: I Am Ryder Anderson

My identity can be defined by moments in my life. Moving to Canada, learning English and going to high school are three major moments in my life. Going through these experiences have changed the person in me and made me more confident, stronger, better in everything.

Threads to Which I belong is a book that captivated my soul. As I read through the pages of history, I found myself traveling back in time. Invisible I stood in Mississippi watching a family’s history unfold. As I turned the pages, my emotions changed constantly. I experienced emotions of anger, disgust, sorrow, and happiness. The author has written an outstanding piece of work that forces you to consider researching your own family history.

There were many people in my life that got me to who I am today. My family and friends were the main people that influenced who I am. There were many events that influenced me but the most recent one is picking early college.

Starting high school can be a little scary, especially when you have no guidance from siblings, like me, being the first one from my family to have an education. But that did not stop me from succeeding, I?ve always been confident and determined. I?m an enthusiastic when it comes to trying new things. Who would have thought I was going to be a good athlete plus a book geek, when in my past years I was just a regular kid. I was pretty excited about joining a club that had a connection with high school, that way I didn?t have to start from zero, I always want to be a step ahead. Fortunately, in summer, a high school coach was recruiting freshmen for running either cross country or track, they both involve running, so I considered it like the same sport with different timing. And this is when it all started. Running

What is identity? The definition as a person’s own sense of whom they are, which their past define them. Identity is very important in our society, no matter your social status. I can attach identity to belonging to something or place. As human race, we feel the need to belong to a group or place. Because belonging to a group or place, give us the sense of identity.

I moved to a town called Allegheny, which is near Pittsburgh, PA with my parents and brother from my homeland of Scotland after my father’s early attempt to better working conditions failed. We came to America for a fresh start, but ended up losing most of our money after another failed business endeavor of my father’s. I began my career path as a humble telegraph messenger and soon became skilled enough in the craft to

I grew up on a quiet street in Winter Park, Florida in a quaint middle class family of four. My mother has a small law practice with a tangerine tree in the backyard where she brings the family dogs every day, and my father just retired from his position as the most senior judge at the Orange County Courthouse. My older brother was first a competitive golfer and then a national debate champion before he graduated first in his class from Notre Dame and went to work for Bain and Company. Before all that, he was the architect of the forts we built in our backyard and played the Aragorn to my Éowyn. These people, who shaped and instructed my childhood, brought me up on C.S. Lewis and courthouse visits, P.G. Wodehouse and long ethics debates, and craftiness and self-sufficiency. My dad tried taking me to the golf course, which was when I discovered how much I hate mosquitoes and Florida weather, but it was my mom who took me to see our local ballet company. Though I was forced to wear a dress (one of

I am Keenen Anderson, A first year broadcast journalism major by way of the marvelous city of Atlanta, Georgia. Originally born in Johnson City, TN, my family and I migrated to the southwest part of Atlanta, Know as “the SWATS”, when I was only five months old. I was raised there my whole life along with traveling to Tennessee over the summer. I have participated in sports since three years of age. I began with football for the Central Dekalb Jaguars. As my skills began to advance with my age, I began to play with the Ben Hill Tigers by the age of seven years old. By the age of twelve, I played on the best youth football team in the country, The Ben Hill Tigers. We won every tournament we were a part of. My

I am Collin Louis Sommerfield and my life has been a crazy one. I have one Brother, Mom, and a Dad. My brother is not really willing to do anything out of the normal and tends to stay on the safer sides of things. I on the other hand love to do the crazy things in life. I have ridden down our ditch in a recycling bin, jumped into a pile of snow wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and craziest of all done a mud race. The outdoors is basically my middle name I love to be out there doing anything I can possibly think of. When I am out there I get to ride Four Wheelers, shoot pellet guns, throw the football, and play basketball. I love the feeling you get when you are racing down the harvested wheat field on a four wheeler, all the smells of the

My first nephew, Ryder, was born on September 9th, 2016. He was the son of my sister, who was a recovering heroin addict. When I heard news of his arrival, i was immensely worried, and struck with fear of his health, and well being. I was terrified he wouldn't grow up in a safe, and happy home, in which I was guaranteed. Ryder was born addicted to Methadone, and was welcomed to the world in pain, as his left arm socket was broken from being pulled through. A sense of pride dwells over me when I think of how a newborn could be more resilient than I could imagine.

One aspect of my identity that has shaped my life experience and the way I see the world is my race. I am an African- American who has Nigerian descent from both parents. Growing up African American is hard for many of us, but we always come together to help each other out. We get judged for our skin color, religion, sexuality, and economic status. When I was younger, I always thought about what other people would say about me and how I looked. Even though it was hard seeing how other races portrayed my race, I have learned to embrace my skin color and not let anybody judge me. The society believes that African Americans are lazy, uneducated, and violent. Things people say about me and my race only make me want to prove myself to them that I am proud of my race and would never change myself for anybody.

“I am Kailen. I was born in Southfield, Michigan, a suburban community: a line of pure white houses on an empty street. Sometimes, you would see a child riding their bike alongside their father. My family moved quite a few times, but my parents made sure that we saw this same image. Still, I spent all of my summers in an area complete opposite of where I lived. My great-grandmother lived in a city you constantly see on tv due to violence - the city that has so many abandoned buildings people are surprised anyone still lives there: Detroit. My mother dropped my brother and I off over her house every single day because once you walked through the door, you were instantly overcome with a sense of togetherness. Back then, my surroundings didn’t faze me. I was only focused on making blueberry muffins, watching soap operas,

My name is Cody, I don't want to take to much of your time so i'll keep this as short as possible. I was curious if there was any open spots to join the gamegrumps team. I'm very interested in any positions that you might have open. Even if the position included me being an intern of sorts i'm game. If you would like to know more about me please let me know, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank

I told Cody that I asked both of his parents to describe him to me. I shared with Cody both of their adjectives they used to describe him. He said I like to have fun and be funny. Cody said I am not sensitive. Theresa explained that sensitive just means you are caring. Cody said okay. Cody said that sweet is for girls. Virginia explained that she meant that he was a nice person, and he seem to be okay with that. I shared with Cody that both of his parents complained about him forgetting to wash the dishes, cleaning up his room, and feeding the animals. I asked him do you forget to wash the dishes, to clean your room, and to feed the animals. He smirked, and said I do forget sometimes. I told Cody you seem to forget a lot. I asked

In the first telling of my personal narrative, I did not consider including what had led me to a point where I began to embrace my identities and become proud of my heritage as Korean. There were many factors that led me to be who I am today. The reason for leaving out the information was because there were so many people and occurrences that led me to the point where I am now. For example, moving to different elementary school where there were more diverse body of students, annually performing at the Mosaic in the Korean pavilion, my parents being a positive role model, and becoming a volunteer teacher at the Korean Language School are some of the reasons which have led me to be who I am today. As I was surrounded by people who were interested