Weekend Assignment

My Future

When I graduate from college there are two places I would like a chance to move to.  They are Tokyo, Japan and Washington D.C.  Japan has always been a special place for me because I love to draw anime and I love the language and culture.  As a pull factor living in Tokyo will give me an opportunity to refine my art work and work in the manga industry.  Also, I plan to take Japanese during college.  Living in Japan will give me a chance to use my language skills and become fluent in a natural setting.  While both language use and manga are pull forces drawing me to Japan, they can both be push factors also.  The manga industry in the U.S. is small and using the Japanese language in the U.S. is limited to mostly government jobs as an interpreter.  The downside to moving to Tokyo, Japan would definitely be leaving my family behind.  Also, it would be very difficult learning to live in a vastly different society.  The advantages would be the ability to further my art work, refine my language skills, and spend time in a culture that I love.

            The second place I have chosen, Washington D.C., is because I find it to be a fascinating city.  My father works there and I have had the chance to go to work with him a few times. What pulls me to the city are the job opportunities.  My father tells me that there are many more opportunities than here in Baltimore.  Also, it is one place where I may be able to use my language skills as a government interpreter.  It is also an excellent place to pursue a career in forensic science because of the FBI and CIA.  Washington D.C. is also our nation’s capitol.  As such, it has a very diverse and vibrant culture that draws me to it.  On the downside once again is leaving my family.  However, it will be easier to visit them more than if I lived in Japan.  Also on the downside, being our nation’s capitol, it is a terrorist target.  The advantages are better job opportunities, more chance for using my language skills, and an excellent place to pursue a career in forensic science.

My Past

            To explore my past I talked to both of my parents and both of my grandmothers.  I learned that my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents all were born in the United States.  It is not until I get to my great, great, grandparents that I discover who came to the U.S. from other countries.  Both of my parents were born in Maryland.  My grandparents on my father’s side were born in Indiana and North Carolina and on the mother’s side my grandparents were born in Maryland.  As I work through to my great grandparents I learned that on my father’s side they were born in Indiana (two of them), and North Carolina (two of them).  On my mother’s side I learned that three of my great grandparents were born in Maryland and one in Virginia.  Although it appears that most of my family was born close by, over the years they have lived in many different places.  My relatives have lived in Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, California, and Colorado.  I even have a great grandfather who “rode the rails” throughout the states working wherever he could find work.  As I talked to my parents and grandmothers I learned that the single most important push or pull factor on why my extended family moved around was jobs.  In some cases there were not many jobs in the areas they were living and in some cases it was just better job advancement that made someone move to another part of the United States.  Military service was another reason why some of my family moved.

            When I get down to my great, great, grandparents I finally find some of my relatives that came to the U.S. from other countries.  I discovered on my mother’s side a great, great grandmother and grandfather that came from Germany and a great, great grandfather that came from Ireland.  On my father’s side I learned of a great, great grandmother and grandfather that also came from Germany.  As best that my family can remember these relatives moved to the states for better living and job opportunities after World War I.  One of the most fascinating things I learned is that I am a direct descendant of Davy Crocket through my mother’s side of the family.