By Zoe Mehta
One day, someone asked me, “Where are you from?”
At first, I thought… that is easy.
I am from Wayland. Or from Boston, if that is more familiar.
But then I got to thinking. That is not just where I am from.
Because where you are from is not just where your house is. It is not just a dot on a map. Even though… I REALLY love maps!
One of my favorite things to do is to take the phone, open the map app, and just zoom. Have you ever done that?
You start with the whole world.Then you zoom into a country. town, street. Then your house. And suddenly you are zooming into your neighbor’s backyard like, “Oh wow … they have a trampoline.”
But even when I zoom all the way into my house, I realized something. It doesn’t show everything about where I am from.
I am the girl who spends Saturday mornings cuddled with my family, trying to pick a movie. (Harry Potter is always, the movie, in case you were wondering.)
I am also from this fantastic school, Happy Hollow.
Here, we walk through the halls and see pictures of people who did great things. We learn how to be good friends.
I am from the playground where games are invented in five seconds.
I am from the neighborhood that comes outside when it’s snowing and everyone wants to build one giant snowman.
I am from a family that teaches me to me to be brave, to speak up when I don’t think something is right
So now, when someone asks me, “Where are you from?” I do not just think about a town. I think about all the little things that are shaping me every day. My family. School. Friends. The games we play. The books I read.
I am from everywhere I go.
And you know what? That is a pretty amazing place to be from.
