Background Check

I recently got an email similar to the one Shireen got an email someone asking me to talk more about myself...well...if you insist...here's the exact question:


Can you please tell me more about your background?


This is a pretty complex question, I kept thinking, 'How do I organize my background down into a blog?' Never fear...I'm going to do my best to try.

I'm from Los Angeles, as you may already know, but my heritage is African, both my parents and most of my siblings (other than me and my little brother) were born and raised there to a certain extent. I come from a very close-knit family. I have 3 brothers and a sister, and don't even get me started on my extended family. My dad had 12 brothers and sisters and my mom had 5 siblings (and everyone before them had a lot of kids too) so I have an endless supply of cousins, aunts, uncles, children (this is a cultural thing, don't actually have kiddies), and grandparents. We're a family of immigrants, sort of immigrants, and entitled Americans (yay me!). I have family all over the world...Uganda, Egypt, Austrailia, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, England. My parents are both Reverends, so I grew up in the church and I am a Christian (I'd like to clarify that to me, growing up in the church and being a Christian aren't necessarily the same thing).


My parents didn't have a lot of money (and by a lot I mean any money) to spend on college so coming to GW was a BIG decision. I got into a few schools, and many of them were in California, and many of them gave me more money than GW, but something about this school struck me as special (my mind hasn't changed about that either). Being in D.C., having the chance to be independent has really changed the way I approach the world and I would have paid any amount of money to make myself a better person. At the time my parents weren't sure how to make it work, but four years later it has, and it continues to work. A big thing that influences my decisions is the fact that my dad always says money should not be an issue. Not because he has money to throw around or because he's reckless, but because he believes every person deserves access to what their heart desires and they can get it if they use the tools given to them, regardless of their social/financial background. He didn't own a pair of shoes until he was 12 years old, and yet all my siblings went to (or are in) college. The key is recognizing and using the tools for what they are.

In terms of cultural identification I'd consider myself to be a hybrid. Maybe that's a cope out, and a few people I've met have actually asked me to choose, but I couldn't really identify myself as Black or African, aspects of both cultures have influenced me and being an American on top of everything makes the mix even more interesting. 


I went to public school most of my life and moved to a private school in 10th grade, a choice that I fought against bitterly, but ended up loving it and it has given me a lot options in terms of my education...for example, I don't think I ever would have left California and come 3,000 miles away to GW if I hadn't been pushed by the very attentive college counselors at Campbell Hall (Shout-out to all my Vikings).


I've always been a big reading/writing buff, which came early on in my life. Something about someone being able to go in and tie loose ends up entirely through fiction really appeals to me. In 3rd grade I wrote an essay about why smoking is bad for you and I won an award (cute right?), I wrote a poem about the Columbine shooting which my teacher made me read in front of the whole school, when Aaliyah died I cried and I wrote a poem about her and her music, and since then I haven't really stopped (not crying, I mean writing). I'm a English major/Creative Writing minor, and its given me the opportunity to develop my writing and discover what it is about writing that moves me.

I can't really remember when I started singing. What I do remember is riding in the car one day and singing "Killing Me Softly," (oh goodness. who even remembers 1996...am I right? Hahaha). Anyway even before that I would listen to song and feel I like "Does nobody get how amazing what he/she is doing?" So I copied those people, over and over again, in my room w/ my cassette player and then CD player and I got to the point where I didn't have to any more because I felt like I could make up my own runs and riffs. I joined a bunch of choirs, shows (yes, yes I was a singing tree in "Into the Woods"), and I knew I could sing when I auditioned for a part in Annie and no one could sing the part of the " excited girl from New York City" and I got up there and I just sang it. And everyone in the room was blown away...and I was like "Really? I was just trying to sing it correctly." Since then that has kind of always been my feeling when people tell me I sing well. Music also a big part of why I became perfectionist.


Now that I've written you an essay, I can stop procrastinating and get back to studying.


Til Next Time


Ekiria