The Taste of Tradition

All families have traditions. These traditions may be big or small, but either way they are a part of that family's unique identity. In my senior peer group, we have our own tradition that celebrates a certain type of family tradition: food. Each of the seniors in my group was assigned a certain month of the school year to bring in a "memory food" that means something to them or their family. By doing this, we have learned something about each of our group members and their families that we probably would not have otherwise.

Because the school year is nearing its end, we have gotten through most of our group. Each person has brought in a delicious food with a personal story to go along with it. Something that I have found very interesting is that none of us have brought in foods that are similar to anybody else's. Each different memory food is as unique as the person who brought it. I didn't get to bring my food in until recently, but I discovered that choosing what food to bring was more difficult than I imagined. I discovered that sharing a tradition with people who aren't a part of it can be frightening because you're afraid of what they may think. Especially within a family, traditions are very personal, so opening them up to possibly being criticized is a scary thought because that tradition has become a part of your identity. I never really realized that something as simple as a dessert that my grandma makes at her cabin could be such an integral part of who I am until I decided to share it with people outside of my family.

Eventually, I decided to bring in one of my favorite desserts, Special-K Bars. I worked up the courage to share that tradition with my senior peer group and it went over well, so now I've decided to share it with you. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been going up to my grandparents' cabin with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. My grandma would make us all Special-K Bars and I would eat about half of them all by myself. As we got older, she taught my older cousins how to make them and then they were able to bring them to the cabin. Eventually, my mom put together a family recipe book and that recipe is one of the ones we put in. Now I have learned how to make them and can share them with my entire family.

The Art of Life

This past week, I was given the opportunity to interview eighth graders applying to be one of the thirty incoming members of a program in my school district called the Academy of International Studies. Being on the other side of an interview was a unique experience that taught me a lot about how to present myself when I am the one being interviewed. However, what I found to be the most interesting part of the experience was learning about all of the different people I interviewed and seeing how they all answered the same questions in very different ways. As interviewers, we were given a list of questions we were supposed to ask. One of the questions that I most enjoyed asking was, "What is a book you have read that has inspired you to think about yourself, others, or the world in a new way?" Hearing all of the different responses to this question got me thinking about how I would answer it. After much thought, I couldn't narrow down my choices to one book, but rather a number of books, movies, and songs that have inspired me to think about myself, others, and the world in a new way. In my previous blog post, "Through the Looking Glass", I discussed the effect that the way you think about life can have on your identity and how important it is to try to see things in a different way. So, I want to share my list of books, movies, and songs that have inspired me to think differently with you so that you can hopefully have a similar experience.

Books:
In My Hands- Irene Gut Opdyke
Color Me Butterfly- L.Y. Marlow
Blink- Malcolm Gladwell
The Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver
The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini

Movies:
World Trade Center
Voces Innocentes
127 Hours
Saving Private Ryan
Tsotsi

Songs:
If I Die Young- The Band Perry
Let It Be- The Beatles
Life Support- Rent
Travelin' Soldier- Dixie Chicks
Perfectly Lonely- John Mayer

I highly recommend all of the above : ]