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Hi! I'm Zoe, and I am a freshmen. Last year I went to Rancho San Jouquin Middle School.
One of the factors that makes up my idenity is my language. Other than English, I also speak Hebrew with my family. This has affected my life because it has made me appreciate other languages, and the culture that goes along with it. Growing up, I did not know many people who spoke the same foreign language as me, especially at school. This always made me feel like I was left out, because I did not speak the foreign languages that most of my friends did.
Another factor that makes up my idenity is my intrests. I love going to new places and traveling around the world. This has affected my life because it has shown me that there are so many beautiful places, each with a different story to tell. Going to new places has shown me so many different cultures. I have also been able to learn a lot about different countries, and the traditions, and foods, and celebrations that take place there. I have been to many amazing places such as Israel, London, Greece, Italy, Germany, Thailand, Hong Kong, and more. I hope to continue to see and learn about new places once it is safe to travel again.

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Hello! I'm Ms. Wi and this is my 10th year teaching. Before becoming a teacher, I studied history, education, and sociology at UC Irvine (zot zot!).

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I am the daughter of two Korean immigrants. My parents moved to California (separately) from South Korea when they were in middle school. Being Korean has affected my life in so many ways, including the foods I like to eat, the traditions I follow, and the language I speak with my older relatives. To be honest, it was difficult and awkward for me to appreciate my Korean ethnicity when I was a young kid because all my neighbors, classmates, teachers, and friends were White. Being Korean made me feel different in a negative way. However, as I got older, I learned to appreciate and embrace this part of my identity.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my interest in traveling. Before the pandemic, I visited at least one new country every year (below is a picture of me in Iceland in 2018). Traveling has affected my life because it has allowed me to meet new people, appreciate other cultures, and learn about the histories of other people and places. This has also caused me to become more passionate about treating people with respect and doing my part to help create a more just and peaceful world. Some of the most memorable trips I have taken recently have been to India, Germany, and South Korea. I look forward to the day when I can start traveling internationally again!

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Hi! My name is Arvin and I'm an incoming freshman from JTMS.

One of the factors that make up my identity includes my interest in biking. I learned how to bike at the young age of 3, and ever since then I've gone to many different places to go mountain biking, and also for street riding. Biking has helped me connect to some of my friends better, and it is an activity that I tend to gravitate to when I have nothing to do.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Both of my parents are persian and I have taken several trips to Iran to visit the rest of my family. Since both of my parents moved to the U.S. halfway through their lives, they were raised with persian traditions and qualities, which they have passed over to me.

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About You - Period 1 - Google Slides - Google Chrome 9_3_2020 10_28_13 PM

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Hi I'm Noam and I'm currently a freshman. My previous school is Beacon Park.
One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. My parents are both Israeli's and they moved here from Israel about two years before I was born. Being Israeli has affected my life in many ways. Israeli's find it very it important to stick with other Israeli's because there aren't that many of us in the world, because of this I have been able to meet many friends through the Israeli community in Orange County. Having an Israeli family also means eating Israeli food and I must say that I'm very grateful for this because Israeli food is usually really good. Being Israeli has made me feel unique because I'm  aware that the traditions that I follow aren't followed by a large percentage of people in the world.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my interest in water polo. Both swimming and water polo has consumed a pretty huge portion of my life but I've always liked water polo more. Water polo just taught me how to contribute and be part of a team, and it has just been a great way for me to take my mind off life . I love the sport and before Covid 19 I would never spend more than a couple weeks away from the sport during the summer. So during the first few months of quarantine my mood wasn't the best and I feel that it just shows how water polo has affected me. The sport also makes me feel unique because it is definitely not an extremely popular sport.

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Hi my name is Ibrahim khan, I came from jeffrey trail middle school

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Hi, I'm Nathan. I previously went to Beacon Park. Now am a ninth grader

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity.  Am about 50% Danish. My grandfather was born there and moved really young to the united states. Growing up I visited my grandfather often so i learned a lot about denmark's traditions, and foods. Since a learned so much I've learned to love my sweets. Growing up with danish family has been great.

Another factor makes my identity is my interest in soccer. This interest has helped me meet new people.Teach me about teamwork, hardworking. It has also helped me get rid of stress. I now play for OC liverpool and uset to play for OC Galaxy. I played harvest cup last year.Without soccer I would be a completely different person. SInce Covid hit I was just recently able to go back to normal practise. Down be low is me after i want a soccer tournament last year.

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Hi! I'm Lena and I'm a freshman at PHS. I came from JTMS.

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Hi! I'm Lena, and I'm a freshman at PHS who came from JTMS.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Being Chinese has affected me in so many ways. As the only daughter of two Chinese immigrants, it was important for my parents to stick with people that could speak Chinese since they weren't fluent in  English. I'm sure they did this to look out for me, but I started to became upset that I always only had friends that spoke Chinese. But I was just being ignorant and unwilling. Now, I'm a lot more grateful for my parents and embrace being Chinese. I love taking part in all the traditions, especially the Ghost Festival!

Another factor that makes up my identity is my interest in art. Art has allowed me to meet new people and experience new things. It's also just a really easy way to de-stress. I usually draw traditionally, but I'm learning digital currently. I've met so many people because of our shared interest and it's been really fun.

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Hi, my name is Ryan Park i came from JTMS.

My ethnicity is Korean. My parents are immigrants from south Korea. It has effected greatly from language to foods.

Another factor in my life is gaming. I get to socialize with my close friends.

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Hi! My name is Renee Yasuda. I came from Jeffery Trails Middle School and now I am in 9th grade at Portola High School.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I am half Japanese and and half Korean. My mom is from Korea and my dad is from Japan. I think being half Japanese and half Korean is a very important factor of me. Because of my ethnicity I was introduced to so many new cultures and traditions at a young age. The Japanese and Korean culture has brought me to enjoy the type of music and entertainment they have to offer. I also had the privilege to learn both languages which is amazing. And being able to know these languages is also very beneficial for me because sometimes when we go to Japan or Korea I am able to communicate with the  people around and ask for help. So I think my ethnicity is a big part of me.

Another factor that makes up my identity are my hobbies. I have many hobbies. Swimming is one of my favorite hobbies. I have been swimming competitively since a young age I really enjoy it. Going to competitions and racing other people is so exciting. And I hope we could have more competitions as soon as the pandemic is over. I think that my hobbies is a big factor that makes up my identity because with the hobbies I have and enjoy I feel like it somewhat shapes who I am. My identity represents who I am and I think these hobbies represent who I am in a sense.

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Hello, my name is... Up there ^! I came from JTMS and currently in 9th grade.

The two most important elements that express my identity are my heritage, and nationality. First off, my parents came from Russia, but I was born in the U.S..

Because my parents are Russian, I learned the Russian language at a young age. Despite my nationality, my family and I still follow by many Russian traditions.

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Hello! I am Daniel Stankovich, I am in 9th grade, and I came from Beacon Park Middle School. One of the factors I chose is my ethnicity. I am American, but also I am Serbian. You may not here much about Serbians, but they are out there. I do not know the language, although my dad and grandma do. We celebrate many traditions on the Serbian side. Many things that celebrate Serbian things. I have tried new foods that have changed my life for the better. My grandma always makes the best desserts. I never really bring up being Serbian because no one really asks. Although, sometimes adults ask what kind of name is Stankovich. That's the only time it truly comes up.

The second factor I chose was my interest in Broadway. I love to perform, get up in front of people, singing, and acting. I love it all!! Broadway has been a really cool thing to get into because It lets you explore great and new opportunities. It also lets you practice your social skills. It's really fun and I have such a great experience when trying to learn the lines, dancing, etc. The picture below is just me. The lighting is really bad, but I have no choice.

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Hello, my name is Yousof Mohammed. The middle school I came from is JTMS and that is where I have made most of my friends. I am in the 9th grade at Portola High School.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Both my parents are African-American and muslim. Living in America does not really affect the way I practice my traditions because we still practice as if we were back home. We also include our practices in our daily life such as praying. We are told to pray when we wake up, in the middle of the day, when we get home from school, sunset, and before we go to sleep. We also practice fasting during the month of ramadan. We fast during ramadan to show sympathy to the people who are less fortunate than us. We go from sunrise to sunset then have a big feast at the end of the day. We also practice speaking arabic at home. It is something that I am trying to improve everyday.

Another factor that makes up my identity are my interest. My interest consist of rap music, basketball, and the way I dress. I just started getting into they way I dress because my mom told me whenever we would go to family events I never dressed "presentable". After that, I started to dress myself a lot better got of got addicted to buying clothes. I also use basketball as a way to work on my leadership and perseverance. When ever my friends and I would be playing basketball and losing, I would be the one to get their mindset better and allow them to try harder. This skill will be important in the future not only for me, but for the people around me as well.

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Hello, my name is Darshan and I am a 9th grader at Portola High School. I came from JTMS(Jeffrey Trail Middle School) My ethnicity is Indian because of our heritage and parents but my nationality is American. My ethnicity makes me Indian. I love indian food, I speak Tamil, (a language orignated from India). Yet outside, I speak english and enjoy eating multiple American food. Also, I love to play video games, tennis, and play outside. These things don't have to do with my ethnicity.

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Hi i'm Gavin and i came from beacon park middle school.

one factor that makes up my  identity is my ethnicity. i'm half Armenian and  my dad came to america in 1967. he moved from Jordan to Chicago and then to California. me being Armenian i was introduced to new culture foods and a new language.

another factor that makes up my identity is my interest in technology. i lover learning about technology and learning to code. its a fun hobby and i learn new things everyday.

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Hello, my name is David Sloan. Currently, I'm a Freshman and used to go to Beacon Park.

The first factor that I believe makes up my identity are my interests. I love music and I think that I make that fairly apparent. I usually listen to music whenever I'm doing something that would be encouraged by the sorts. Another interest of mine that has developed my identity is my love for writing. I try to make whatever I write as brief and forward as I can. I think that it has driven me to become fairly a straightforward person.

The next factor that I believe makes a large portion of my identity is my ethnicity. I'm mostly American and Indonesian, and I try to incorporate them both in my daily life. I do so by participating in American traditions and holidays with my family. I also eat some Indonesian foods, but most of them are too far off my pallet.

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Hi my name is Noor and i am a freshman in highschool. I came from jeffrey trail middle school.

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Hi i'm Ryan and I am a freshman at Portola High School

One factor that makes up my identity is my interest in computers. My interest in computers has interested me to learn to build good computers. This has also allowed me to expand my friendship with other people that also build computers and play video games. This also expands my knowledge with technology so if I have a problem I would probably know how to fix it.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. My dad is Irish from his dad and was born in Russia, and my mom is American. This encourages my family to do things like see plays or make special foods sometimes that relate to that little part of background of me.

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Hey! My name is Ellany Scott, I am a freshman, and last year I went to OCSA.

One factor that makes up my identity is my nationality. I was born in the Marshall Islands, making me Marshallese. After one month of living there, I moved to California. This has caused me some issues when it comes to thing like travelling. When I go to the airport, I get many issues because the security people get so shocked and confused when they see that my passport belongs to the Marshall Islands. It might seem tiring when they do that because it can take up to a couple hours, but it is also so cool to see others very fascinated by my nationality.

Another factor that makes up by identity is one of my many interests! I love music. I love playing and listening to music. Musical theatre has been a big part of my life since around second grade. I used to do the annual elementary school musicals, which has influenced my identity. It contributes to my love for music, and it caused me to audition for OCSA. OCSA is an arts school, and I auditioned for musical theatre, then got in! I went there last year, and it was so interesting to surround myself with a different group of people with different interests. I obviously ended up leaving the school, but I am glad I went there in the first place because it was a nice learning experience!

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Hi! I'm Keo and I came to PHS from Beacon Park Middle School and it's my first year of high school.

One component that makes up my identity is my Nationality. I was born in Canada and had many experiences before I moved to California. After moving to California, I appreciated the weather and experience of living in California a lot more because of how cold and worn down everything was in Canada. To add on, most of the kids in my elementary school wanted to visit or travel to Canada. Even though it made me different because I had somewhat of an accent, people were more interested rather then offensive.

Another component that makes up my identity is my interest in soccer. My interest in soccer allowed me to meet many people and help me improve on myself as well. Soccer taught me many things like commitment, teamwork, and even mindset. Not only does this help me when I play, it also helps me in other activities I do such as school. Soccer has helped me make friends as I have met people who are also interested in the sport. Soccer has also brought my school together as we were able to win the Harvest Cup last year for bringing the first win to the school. Overall, I can't wait until Covid is over so we can go back to school as well as our soccer season.

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Hi! I am Anoushka, I am a freshman and I came from JTMS.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I am Indian, and both of the sides of my family love to eat Indian just like I do. Since I am Indian we don't really celebrate some things that Americans do like thanksgiving. My ethnicity makes me different from others in the way that we don't eat and celebrate some of the things Americans do.

Another factor that makes up part of my identity is my interest in tennis. I love playing tennis and it is a really fun sport. My dad is a sport lover like soccer, basketball, and etc. but his all time favorite sport is tennis. I think I inherited that from him. I have played tennis since I was 8 years old. I still play tennis now and i played in matches until the whole covid-19 situtation. I love tennis and I think it plays a big part in my identity.

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Hi! My name is Veronika, I'm a freshman and I came from Venado.
One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Before I moved to U.S I lived in Russia for 10 years( I was born there). When I moved here I noticed how different the cultures, people and cities are. Because of that I think my Russian background makes me unique. I also think Russia and russian people have shaped my personality and my daily life routine a lot.
Also when I moved to U.S a new interest was born in me, traveling. How I said before I noticed a great contrast between the two countries, that's how I got really interested in how do other cultures and parts of the world look like. And so I started texting people from different countries to figure out their daily life, whats different, what do they like to do in their countries, their holidays and etc. This interest has expended my knowledge about other people, cultures and sometimes the reason behind why people act a certain way.

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This Hi, I’m Sophie Jang and now a freshman in Portola High School. I originally came from Jeffrey Trail Middle School.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I was living in Korea before I moved to the US. I hadn’t never expected that I would move to the US, even 2 years ago, right before I moved. Even though I’m living in the US, I’m still Korean. I keep following all the traditions, languages and cultures from Korea. Being Korean is a big part of my life, and I’m also appreciative about myself as a Korean. I would love to follow things from Korea, and even cultures from Korea are more familiar. However, since I'm living in America, I recently tried to follow cultures from the US. Those are nice memories for me, even if I'm going back to Korea someday. This makes me unique, because I am following both US and Korean cultures.

The second factor that makes up my identity is my language. Since I'm Korean and living in the US, I can speak both of it well. To add on, I can also speak Japanese, and take Spanish 2 class. This makes me speak with lots of different people all around the world. There is no problem to talk with people who speak different languages. Speaking different languages directly helps me to learn cultures, basically providing impacts in a positive way.  For example, I love traveling, and this really helps me be comfortable having a conversation. I am so passionate about learning more languages, and I hope my language skills help me in my future.

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Hello! My name is Minseo, I'm in 9th grade and I came from Jeffrey Trail.
A part that makes my identity is my race. People don't really care much about it but they judge at the first appearance. For some reasons, people say that Asians are all smart however,  I'm not one of them. I don't mind too much but it's the one thing I could think of.

Another factor is my language. Another language I speak, other than English is Korean. Korean was my first language and

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Hi! My name is Vince Tran! Im 15 years old and this is my first time attending Portola High School. I originally came from Leesville junior high school from Louisiana.
One factor that makes up my identity is my nationality. I was born in Texas. Me and my family kept moving from different state and rent new homes from Texas,Florida, and Louisiana. But now i moved here with my sister in California to find new opportunities for us. For the past couple of months living here in Cali i gotta say i was amazed on how much stuff me and my sis can do here.But the issue about living here is that i have to leave behind my parents and stay here with my aunt and uncle. I sometimes get home sickness and it makes me sad that i wont be able to see my parents. But what made me happy is that they can visit on holidays and such and such.
Another factor that makes up my identity is my interest. My interest is Voice acting and acting,playing Games or participate in my friends tournaments, and Reading.
I love to do Voice acting in my friends video's because its fun and hilarious. Even tho i dont have experience in acting it was still fun. Gaming is also very fun to but inly when i have free time. Playing in my friends tournaments is so exciting but also stressful as well be we all have a good laugh and congratulate others for winning.
My finally interest is reading books. Back then when i didn't have a phone or tablet i always love to read and i still do today. I love how far your imagination can take you to imagaining a taste, smell,feel,and even see or hear. It also a free movie to watch in your head.
all of these interest affected my life is that i have to dreams i want to follow is either join a Esports team or Be a Actor or a voice actor and also if i have time i want to make my own book series.
Here's a picture of me with all my interest on my desk

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Hi! My name is Kasra Sowlati and I came from JTMS but I am now a freshman at Portola High School.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Both my parents are from Iran. My parents moving to America didn't change the way they lived, in fact they encourage the culture a lot more because we aren't surrounded by it like they where.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my language. Since both of my parents are from Iran I speak Farsi. Not many of my friends speak the same language and they don't know what my parents are saying when they are talking to me. Since my friends don't understand the language I can say random things and they would be confused.

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Hi I'm Caleb who is in freshmen. I came from Beacon Park school.

One factor that makes up my identity is my language. I recently came to America from South Korea, so speak in Korean is more comfortable than speak in English. When I came to the America, I couldn't talk to anyone in English. I had a hard time. I thought that I wanted to go back to Korea. However my cousins and friends motivated me, so I kept tried to speak in English and learned how to accent the words. Now I can speak English better than before. I'm also proud of myself.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my interest in basketball. This interest allowed me to meet many people and gave me a confidence. Basketball taught me a lot of things such as hard-work, teamwork, and hope. I used to play basketball for Cal Aero Preserve Academy. My dream is to be a no.1 basketball player in the Irvine region. Overall, I can't wait to meet new friends and new school.

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Hi my name is Noor and i am a freshman! i came from jeffrey trail middle school.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity.  My father is palestinian and my mother is egyptian. I was born and raised in dubai and i moved to the United States 3 years ago. My ethnicity has affected my life in many ways because i don't know many people who speak the same language as me or have the same culture as me so that has made me more open to learn about other cultures.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my religion. Both of my parents are muslims which also makes me a muslim. My religion has affected my life in many ways because i live close to a mosque and i made some friends in my youth group who made me love my religion a lot more.

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Hi, my name is Minh-An and I am coming from JTMS. Now freshman at PHS.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. My parents both came from Vietnam, fleeing the war at the time. They came here in hope of a better future. I am proud to be Vietnamese because of our rich culture, traditions, and food.

Another factor that makes up my identity is the languages I speak. I speak English and Vietnamese. This has affected my life because from a very young age, I grew up speaking this language and learning how to read and write it. But as I got older, I shied away from speaking Vietnamese. And now I really regret it because I am not that fluent anymore. I struggle to think of to stuff to say in Vietnamese to talk to my grandmas and family members. I am proud of my culture because it's what makes up my unique name!

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Hi, my name is Khaled
and i am a freshmen
I came from JTMS.

The 2 factors that make up my identity is my language. Once I came to America, I couldn't speak English at all, It was really hard once it came to speaking to other people. However my mom's friends helped me everyday learning how to say words the correct way, later on i improved myself and started speaking english to my friends.

Another factor that makes up my identity is soccer, I started playing soccer when i was 5 years old. Once I grew up, soccer helped me with a lot of things, such as not giving up, running faster, keeping me away from being lazy. I used to play for 2 teams which was Strikers F.C and Liverpool. My dream is to be a famous soccer player and play in real games.

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My name is Penny Wei and I am a freshman from JTMS.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I am half Chinese half English, my dad being Chinese and my mom being English. This has affected my life because I have two very different sides of my family. When I am with my dads side of the family we celebrate holidays like Chinese New Year and eat food that is related to the Chinese culture. On my moms side it is very different. We don't have any special holidays that we celebrate or specific food that we eat. My ethnicity has affected me by being able to relate to some people who celebrate Chinese New Year or eat similar Chinese foods.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my interest in skiing.I have been skiing since I was three and racing since I was six. This has affected my life because it is not something that most people do where we live. It is really cool when I meet people that ski as well because I can relate to them on things. This makes me unique because not a lot of people in California would think it is possible to drive up to a mountain every weekend to ski.

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My name is Ryu Sumida. I am a freshman from JTMS.

One factor that makes up my identity is my interest in tennis. I play tennis with my friends, family, and some lessons. I started to participate in tournaments about a year ago. I have won only once but I'm working hard to win more tournaments and get into varsity. I am striving to play in the atp.

Another factor that makes up my identity is the language I speak. I was born in Japan and flew to california when I was about 2. I speak japanese in my house and go to japanese school one a week. An huge merit of speaking and understand japanese is that you don't need subtitles for anime; Super convenient.

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Hi! My name is Stephanie Baldwin, I am a freshman and I came from Jeffrey Trail Middle school.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Even though I am half French and half Chinese, being Chinese has affected my life in many different ways. For example, from my dads side my family is from Europe. From my moms side of the family, they are all Chinese. I celebrate many traditions and holiday's from both sides of the family.

Another factor that make up my identity is being bilingual. I can speak both English and Chinese, very fluently. The sad part is, I don't know how to read Chinese, but I'm getting close. I speak both English and Chinese at home. My dads side of the family doesn't understand me when I speak Chinese, only my moms side.

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Hi! My name is Anna, I'm a freshman and I came from JTMS Middle school.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Even though I am half Chinese and half Indonesian, I am much more connected with my Indonesian side. I grew up and lived most my life in Jakarta, and all my friends and family are there. I've been to China only twice as a baby but my grandmother loves upholding Chinese traditions and holidays like Chinese New Year and many others I can't remember. My family also loves Chinese cuisine.

Another factor that makes up my identity is the languages I speak. I can speak Indonesian and English fluently. I also understand a little Javanese because my grandparents constantly use it when Im around. It gets harder to speak English without slipping in some Indonesian because my friends and family love mixing both up.

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My name is Nour Elgamal I am in 9th grade and I came from Jeffrey Trail Middle School.

One factor that makes up my identity is interest. I love dancing, cooking, music, talking, making friends and a lot more exciting things. This factor describes me because it shows that I am open to a lot of things and L love to try new things. It also shows that I am very friendly and a lot of people can relate to me. This affected my life by being able to make more friends and just be way more unique then others because if you ask me do you like blank most likely I will say yes.

Another factor that makes up my identity is language. I speak 3 languages and learning 2 more at the moment. At home I speak Arabic with my dad and french with my mom but usually english. I am learning Russian with my best friend and spanish with all my other friends. This applies to me because I have lived in many different places but where my parents were born helped me learn new languages.  This affected my life because usually when people speak Arabic or French they always ask me are you Arab or French and I say yes.
(For the picture I am the one on the left.)