I am what I am what I am.

Is there really an in between when dealing with your background? You’re categorized by either following in prior generations past's footsteps, or completely straying away. As we grow to develop our own personal views and interests, we try and balance what we've learned and what we think for ourselves. The best way to keep up family “tradition” is to keep the values and morals instilled in us while acting on what will help us get to where we want in the long run.

I come from a separated household with parents who were both raised in two parent homes. My mother’s family wasn’t wealthy, but stable. The hard work and dedication of my mother’s parents bred her to be the respectable, intelligent, and independent woman she is today. I do not know much about where their roots have come from because the generation filled with knowledge has slowly passed on while I was still a young child. My mother has taken the values she was raised with, and passed down these same family values to her children.

My father’s family comes from a multi-ethnic background including Native American, White, and French. My grandmother’s family was Cherokee Native American and my grandfather’s French, hence the name Portier. My grandfather’s first language was French when he lived in Louisiana, but was bullied as a child after moving to Texas which made him ashamed of his heritage. Once he learned English, he vowed never to speak French again nor teach his children. The only thing about his family that has been shared is that our name was spelled Poitier (like Sidney) and changed on my grandfather’s birth certificate to its current spelling. This unfortunate happening has influenced the trace of my family’s background until modern day technology was developed. Although my grandparents are still together, they really aren't “together”.  They have lived completely separate lives for as long as I can remember. This lifestyle choice seems to have rubbed off on my father which ultimately caused the split of my household.

As I get older, I constantly think of the ways I want to raise my own family. I will take all the things I've seen and learned from my parents, positive and negative, and use them as a basis for my own family. When I begin to develop my family, I have plans to be successful enough so that we are better off. Not necessarily extremely wealthy, but in a good living situation. My family will all be raised in the same household, and have many opportunities to travel and expand their cultural knowledge. I want my children to have exposure to as many languages and cultures as possible. I feel that a positive environment and ample opportunity exposure will encourage my children to want success for themselves. Not only will their experiences expand their knowledge, but it may also help them get bigger and better opportunities presented to them in the long run.