Among Other Things

Abstract

Who are you? A question both mundane and encroaching all at once. We ask it to our children to help them decide what they will be when they grow up. We ask it to ourselves when we are alone at night in our beds. It is a question, I believe, that can never fully be answered. However, through literature, when an author imposes this question upon its characters thoughtfully, dynamically, and to the point of raw reality, we begin to understand not only who this character upon the page is, but who we all are. This piece was written for an Autobiographical Writing Class at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa under the instruction of Professor Frank Stewart. It was then edited by History Professor, Karen Jolly. This is the story of my childhood, my present, and my future. It was written with the intention to flow from pragmatic narration, searingly specific first-person, and back to ambivalent, provocating second-person. This progression allows for a literary representation of how one may feel in regard to their own identity, how I feel about who I am: aware of the present, but vacillating between who I was, who I think I am and who I want to be. It is our stories that make us. This piece is designed to highlight that even with the most guttural confrontation of our inner thoughts presently, the journey of who we are does not stop; it only stokes the fire. It is my hope that this story, my story, illuminates the ability for each of us dive into what makes us who we are and start a conversation about what that means for one another.