Stephanie's Identity: AP Literature and Composition

People and places can have a magical effect on an individual and help influence reactions, responses, and behaviors.  People I know and places I have spent time have helped shape my identity. My friends and family, individuals whom I love dearly, have helped me find who I truly am. My interactions with my family and friends create a sense of security and happiness, allowing for joy and warmth in my life. I feel safe with these people because I can be myself. I can grow; I can flourish as a person. Inside jokes or serious conversations prompt a laugh, a smile, or a tear. All these responses allow a person to find where they belong or feel like they matter. Without my friends and family, I would feel lost. Every friend or family member has impacted my life in some way. Places can also play a role in shaping an individual.  My family, in particular, has a deep association with a place that I feel has contributed to many aspects of my individuality. As someone who has moved around for all her life, it seems as if I have only one “permanent” home. Traverse City, Michigan has been my safe landing and what I call “home.” My family and I have vacationed here since I was born.

Because I always return to this same house on the same lake during the same days within a calendar year, it provides me with a sense of familiarity and routine.  If I were to lose this special place, I would feel disoriented.  A part of me would be missing. What is “home” for many people is a rooted place. My family’s cottage on Lake Leelanau is part of what makes this my “home”, but it is also the city itself. Without the buttered sourdough toast from 45th Parallel Café on a summer morning or the succulent and bittersweet cherries from one of the many cherry orchards, this whole place would lose all meaning. Part of what makes Traverse City so meaningful to me is the fact that I know I can always go back. It’s always there. I have abundant memories associated with this location as I grew up here every summertime and had some of my first-ever experiences. I learned how to waterski, drive a boat, drive a car, kayak, canoe, play volleyball, ride a horse, and tie my shoes. When I go back to my familiar spot, memories such as my firsts come rushing back to the point where I can almost relive them. My family contributes to these Traverse-City related memories because of their role in making each memory so special. When I was first able to slalom ski, my mom, dad, grandpa, and sister were cheering on the other side of the ski rope on the boat because of my huge accomplishment.  Even though I gave my grandpa vertigo the first time I drove a car, I still have a fun, light-hearted memory regarding a first-ever experience whenever I look at his Jeep. Each memory I have in Traverse City is unique. It plays a role in my identity because of the life qualities that I have learned from spending so much time here. Because I have been acclimated to the cottage on Lake Leelanau since 2002, it would be so hard for me to say goodbye. My whole childhood has been associated with this place because of all my past endeavors. Despite only growing up here in the summertime, Traverse City showed me that it could still be considered my childhood home because it is up to you to define a place and its worth in your life.

 -Stephanie Sandra