A lot of things have shaped me into the person I am today. My passion for ice skating, my friendship with my sister, my drive for success. But I think growing up on a farm- and all things that go along with that, have made the biggest impact on me becoming me. It was important to me because I grew up having family always come first. I never had the neighbor kids knocking on my door wanting to go play, and never once did I regret it. I loved spending so much time with my family, even if it meant raking our llamas' poop and helping mom mow the lawn....the 80 acre lawn. The people we choose to be around, especially at a young age completely change who we are. I am certain if I had stayed in my small town or grown up in the suburbs, my life would be incredibly different. For better or for worse who knows, but what is interesting is how small things can have such a big impact on your future. I remember how much I loved watching Michelle Kwan ice skate, and it was because of her that I started skating. Never before skating did I have a lot of girl friends, but I met some of my closest friends through figure skating. Our experiences shape who we are, but how we choose to REMEMBER them is a whole different story. In this sense, not only do our experiences shape who we are, but we also shape our experiences.
Being a freshman at the U of M and meeting people from all other has made me realize how different my upbringing was in the suburbs. I think that when you get a large group of people together, say 50,000, those differences become quite pronounced. Farm life is incredibly different than the suburbs I grew up with and I often wonder how I would have been different if I instead grew up in the city or, like you, a farm. It's just interesting to think about. But what I love is how much each of us can learn from each other because of our differences.
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