It’s a truism that adolescence poses all manner of challenges, not the least among them sorting out one’s identity. The psychologist Louise Kaplan once said, “Adolescence is the conjugator of childhood and adulthood.” Let’s hear Jack Willimann’s take on his unique challenge.
Jack Willimann lives with his family in Providence. In the fall he will be entering the 9th grade at the Moses Brown School.
When people ask me where I’m from, I say Louisiana. I always knew that’s where I was born, and ever since then I’ve moved a total of 8 times all around New England with my parents.
One afternoon my family was sitting on a couch watching TV, and a 23andMe ad popped up. We ended up ordering 3 tests, one for me, my dad, and my mom. We already knew that my dad’s mom was born in France, and his dad was born in Switzerland. We also knew that my mom was mostly European. Then there’s me. I’m adopted and was born in Louisiana, that’s about all I know. The test kit came 2 days later. We spat into a tube, added a mixture, then closed it up and put it back in the box. The next morning we mailed it, and then it was a waiting game.
When the results arrived, we learned that my dad was a split between French and Swiss and my mom was French, German, British, and Irish. Then there was me. I was everywhere. I was European, sub-Saharan African, East Asian, and Native American. I was so surprised. I thought that I was going to be somewhat European, but not that much. I was 65%!
That night during dinner we talked about the 23andMe test results, and as I went to bed, I asked my parents a few more questions about their own parents and where they were from. Before the ancestry test my mom knew absolutely nothing about where she was from. But like me, now she knew where her family was from and how important it was to get to know her past. Although my dad already knew a lot of things about his past he also learned new specifics.
I believe all people have their own stories. Some of us know our stories from the beginning, some of us learn our stories along the way, and some of us may never have all the answers of who we are. I don’t think the 23andMe tests have changed my thought process of answering the question where are you from? But, it has given me more information about my background than I had before. My test results may have made my life more complicated, and in some ways it has made even more questions about who I am. But, in the end I think it was all worth it because I now can answer the question, Where are you from?
