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My name is Ella Schaffer (she/her) and I call Chicago my home. For the past 18 years, I have lived in the same red-brick house in between the streets of Clark and Lasalle. Longing to get to know my city better during my senior year, I started to take the train in new directions in the conscious effort to explore neighborhoods beyond my own. The sense of my own “Chicagoan” identity grew exponentially. This identity is also deeply rooted in the city's relevance to my family. My dad grew up in Chicago and although he lived in various other cities during his young adult life, he ultimately chose to come back. My mom, an immigrant from Poland, came to Chicago for work, but stayed after falling in love with the city. To me, Chicago represents more than a city, but my family, youth, and hopes.

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My name is Ella Schaffer (she/her). I have always felt grateful to say that I have two homes-one with my parents in Chicago, IL and one with my grandparents in Tomaszow Lubelski, Poland. Growing up, I spent all of my childhood summers in Poland; it was not until the pandemic that I experienced a full summer in the US. My mom, a Polish native, never let my siblings and I forget that we were more than just American. By going to a Polish Saturday school, speaking Polish at home, and celebrating holidays in a traditional fashion, I have been able to partake in Polish culture despite living in the States. Although far from the white house by the forest, I nevertheless remain connected with my home in Poland and my cultural heritage.

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Hi! My name is Eva (she/they) and I am from Peru and Germany. I currently live in Eswatini and have moved countries a lot due to my father's job. I graduated from UWCSA Waterford Kamhlaba. Since this is my place of residence, I put Lima, Peru as the other place with which I identify. My mom is Peruvian and even though I am not in Peru as often as I would like to be, every time I am there I feel a renewed bond with that side of my culture and family. Through my travels, having a sense of home became a foreign concept to me but the family and community I have in Lima make me feel like I do still have a place where I belong.

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My name is Santina Dresser (she/her) and I am from a small town in the seacoast of New Hampshire called Stratham. I was born and raised in this town and have never lived anywhere else in my life. It's the kinda old farm town where everybody knows everybody and you don't even have to think about locking your doors at night. (Part of the reason that I wanted to come to a diverse school in an urban area). The cute downtown area is 5 minutes from my house and looks like it came straight out of a Hallmark movie when the leaves turn in the fall. With the ocean only 15 minutes away I take lots of beach days in the summer and the mountains are also only a few hours north to go skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer.

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My name is Zofia Sargent (she/her) and am from Shrewsbury, MA! I was born in a hospital in Worcester, MA just a town away and have lived in the same house in Shrewsbury ever since. I have grown to know and love my neighbors along with my neighborhood. I spent my childhood running throughout this area with all my neighbors playing games of tag and hide and go seek until our parents forced us to bed. This town and my home is a very special place for me because of all the memories it holds throughout the 18 years that I have lived there. I have made so many friends and lifelong connections throughout my life there and can’t image calling anywhere else home.

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Hi my name is Zofia Sargent (she/her) and one of my favorite places is Cape Cod. I always spend a week each summer in the Cape with my family and it is the most calming but adventurous week, definitely my favorite part of the year.

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Whistler is the most beautiful places I have traveled in my life and is part of the reason I am so in love with the outdoors. My mom's friend lives here and we visit in the summer to go hiking and the winter to go skiing. Everybody bikes everywhere instead of driving, and views are absolutely stunning

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My name is Cindy Rodriguez (she/her). I've lived in New York my whole life. I currently live in Harlem, where I have lived for 14 years, and prior to this, I lived in the Bronx. I went to an elementary and middle school in Harlem called P.S. 180 or Hugo Newman Preparatory School, but for high school I went to school in Connecticut. Harlem is definitely a quieter place in the city, still noisier than the suburbs, but it is not nearly are crowded or noisy as downtown. This is likely because not as many tourists come to Harlem, most people there are locals.

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San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic

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San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic

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San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic

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(Cindy) Both of my parents are from the Dominican Republic, so we have gone there almost every summer for the entire summer. I identify with San Francisco de Macorís specifically because this is where we stay whenever we visit. This place is my second home from the number of times we have been.

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My name is Lianna Morrison (she/her), and I was raised in Andover Ma since I was two years old. For years I remember sharing a room with not one, not two, but three sisters, as we lived in a small condo. We lived a life where we were always close together, but that often comforted my ongoing racing mind. This town holds so many memories, whether it was going down the slides at West Elementary School, or walking the halls in Andover High School, I got to experience a life where I was able to grow and learn so much. Learning was involved within and outside my school walls. I was able to explore the surrounding towns and cities and learn so much, whether through research experiences or simply venturing off outside my bubble of a city, I was able to gain insight into others' lives as well. Andover isn't just the place I grew up in, it had my family. My grandparents lived half a mile down the street from me, which allowed me to create a strong bond with them, and that's also why Andover is so important to me.

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My name is Lianna Morrison (she/her) and this is Lake Sebasticook in Newport Maine. This is a place where memories stem for far longer than I have been alive. This is the place where my nana owns a house, as well as two of her siblings. This is a place where my entire family calls home, not just me. As the sun peaks over the trees, and the s'mores bake over the fire, conversations flow. I identify with this place because it is essentially where I grew up. Every summer since I was a baby I would swim in the lake, play ball, ride my bike down the rocky dirt path. But it was ultimately where my imagination flourished. I remember every year my cousin and I would build fairy houses in hopes of meeting a fairy. I remember every year my cousin and I would swim with our legs together, in hopes of becoming a mermaid. Lake Sebasticook was where my creation could thrive, and that is why it holds so much meaning to me.

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The view about half way down my driveway. 

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My name is Leon Indigo McCarthy Dell'Era, and I use he/they pronouns. I tend to say I'm from central Massachusetts because I grew up in four towns. I started off in Lunenburg, then my dad moved to neighboring Shirley after my parents divorced. He then bought a house in Groton. When I was in the 8th grade, my mother moved to Harvard so I could get a better high school education. All that is to say, I rarely feel like I'm from anywhere. My home is in Harvard, but I am not from Harvard (something you can never quite forget in a small-town high school). I still love Harvard and the friends I have there, despite not feeling intrinsically connected.

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My name is Leon Indigo McCarthy Dell'Era, and I use he/they/lui (Italian) pronouns. My father grew up in Domaso, and I spent a good amount of time there visiting my nonni, zia, and cugini. But if I'm being honest, in a village of about a thousand people, I'm in some way related to everyone I see. I hold citizenship in Italy, but the village my dad put down is neighboring Vercana, where my Nonna is from. But I feel more connected to Domaso as that is where I normally stayed when I visited. I'm trying to find time to go back, but my fear of flying is preventing that a bit.

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My name is Genet and I was raised in Washington DC. Growing up in a city has influenced my beliefs, values, and practices. DC's diversity in culture, religion, and economics has exposed me to an array of people that have shaped me into the person I am today. DC's general areas are referred to by cardinal directions such as NE, SW, NW, etc. My home is located in NW DC in a quiet neighborhood that borders Rock Creek Park. This park is also a gem of DC and is often forgotten when tourists visit the city. My family and I spent years biking and walking through the park and it is a key memory for me.

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My name is Diana-Maria Dinu and I was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. My birthday is December 1st, which is Romania's National Day. I have a younger sister named Denisa and a dog named Ralph. I loved growing up in Bucharest because it is a beautiful city with a lot of traditions. Bucharest is the capital city of Romania, so it is the largest city in the country. People also refer to Bucharest as "The Little Paris". Every day after school, my mother used to take me to the park near our house and we would just sit on a bench and talk about our day. I loved doing that. I had a fantastic childhood because I was always surrounded by other children who had the same interests as me. Some of my interests are dancing, reading, traveling, and learning about different cultures.

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Hi! My name is Ryley Disner (she, her) and I was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado. It has always been a place I have been proud to call home. It wasn't until I went to boarding school for my Junior and Senior years of high school that I realized Colorado and specifically my place in it are misunderstood my many people. Yes, biking and hiking are things I really enjoy on the weekend but that is not all of my 'Coloradan' identity. Fort Collins sits right in between the mountains and the farm land of Colorado. It's weird how not many people think corn and wheat when they think of Colorado given that just under half of the state is farm land. My identity with the farming side of Colorado doesn't so much have to do with the farming part, but what happens in the Fall when the corn stalks tower overhead. My favorite holiday has always been halloween ever sense I went to my first haunted corn maze just 15 minutes down the road. I loved the thrill of walking through a maze as monsters jumped out at you through the corn and wish they had more attractions like this on the east coast.

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I've lived in Atlanta, GA twice during my childhood. Once when I was very young and then again for high school. It is a city filled with life and all kinds of people and has made me a serious foodie. Although I wouldn't say I want to live in ATL forever, it will always be one of my homes.

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This is Jamila, and I use She/her pronouns. I am originally from a small village named Wardak in Afghanistan, but I was born and grew up in a big city named Kabul, which is the biggest city and capital of Afghanistan. I have four brothers and two sisters. To mention, I am the second-youngest and favorite child of the family. When I was a child, my father always took me to Bazzar (somewhere like a supermarket but in a traditional way) and bought me Sheryakh (an Afghan dessert like ice cream but more delicious!)

I love Kabul because it reminds me of the most precious times of my life with my loved ones, including my family and friends. One of the most beautiful moments in Kabul was in the spring, when everywhere was filled with the blossom of trees and the smell of flowers spread through the air. I really love the fact that my country’s Independence Day is in the spring. During this day, we come together in a specific place and wear our traditional clothes, cook a lot of delicious foods, sing, and dance.

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Shanghai is where I lived for middle school. It was amazing to be in a place that introduced me to so many things that I would have never had the chance to be apart of, like traveling and so many good people. I miss it all the time and am still surprised that I am able to call a place so different from the US one of my homes.

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Hi! My name is Ryley Disner (she, her) and another large part of my identity today is my family in Littleton, Massachusetts. My mom was born and grew up in a german(ish) family in Rochester, NY but had family all over Massachusetts. Growing up I never knew about the family that I had here or the traditions I shared with them until I went to school close by. As a kid my mother would take me all around the east coast during hockey tournaments and show me her favorite sights and places that she went to as a kid. So naturally I fell in love with the trees and green colors of the east coast and wanted to live here when I got older. The opportunity came when a coach reached out to me asking me to play for her at a boarding school and I eventually said yes. This is when I met my aunt for the first time and her two boys. They live on a small family run farm in Littleton, MA. Where my aunts mother, who's, mother was born in Germany and her father was from Poland, visits every holiday. I had never felt more at home then when for easter dinner they prepared boiled Pinkel (a german sausage) and had a block of butter cut to look like a lamb head on the counter. I never realized how much the small parts of my holidays meant to me. And how much my family played a part in my identity.

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For the place that I most identify with I chose New York City. Call me a little basic, but there's just something about being in the center of the action and being surrounded by millions of people that comforts me. NYC is the place that I most identify with because I don't have any connection to it, other than this place that exists in my dreams or when I visit it for vacation. My relationship to the city is tricky, because it isn't based on reality but what I romanticize it to be. It's a place, on days that are long and my mind is empty, I spend hours fantasizing my far-away future as a successful novelist living in the big apple. It's a pipe-dream, but one that's comforting like a blanket on days that are cold.

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Hi my name is Rhiju Chakraborty (They/Them) I was born in Chennai India, but immigrated to Ann Arbor, Michigan when I was 8. The image above is the nightscape of Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor. It's a place where I have memories spanning years. It's the beating heart of Ann Arbor, and summer or winter there's always a magical feeling walking down there at night, like anything is possible. Ann Arbor is a place that I've called home for nearly a decade, and a place that I also took granted for a decade. Calling it just a "college town", would be doing my hometown wrong. It's a kaleidoscope of colors, people from diverse backgrounds, and a central hub for art and culture. In the fall tourists flock for our renowned fall colors. Ann Arbor is where things happen, and where people make things happen. It's a lightning rod for innovation, and a place where there's endless opportunities. It's because of these reasons why I feel so close to my hometown, and why if you're ever in the mid-west, you should take a drive down to the birthplace of two of the biggest pizza franchises in the world.