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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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Hello, my name is Noa Mizuno and I am in 9th grade. I came from Beacon park middle school.

The first factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I was born in Miami, Florida. My mom is Japanese and my dad is Cuban. Both sides of my family have completely different cultures. They both speak different languages and eat different foods. This factor is important to me because that means I can learn about the two different cultures. Since my mother was born in japan, I can have a dual citizenship. I appreciate this part of my identity because it is unique. It is rare to find someone that is asian and hispanic, while also being American.

Another factor is my interest in gaming and drawing. first I love to game. It is the best to play games with your friends. It is a great way to laugh and have fun. It is also great to have hours of fun. You can experience and play great stories. This is important to me because I have had a lot of great moments playing video games. I have even made a lot of friends playing. It is also a great way to get inspiration on what to draw which is my other interest. I have drawn most of my life. I love drawing characters because it allows me to appreciate the amount of little details the character has. I also like to draw stuff based on my imagination. I just find it enjoyable to draw something that I really enjoy. Art is a big part of me and that is why I enjoy things like games, movies, shows, drawings, paintings, etc.

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Hello my name is Dayana, I'm in 9th grade and I came from lakeside middle school.

One factor that makes up my identity is interest in

Another factor that makes up my identity is my

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Hello my name is Aiden Han and I am in 9th grade and just came from Beacon park middle school. The first factor that make up my identity is ethnicity which is a little complicated because a part of my family is from a village in China that  has a somewhat forgotten language called Chu chow and the other part of my family is from Vietnam. This factor has affected my life because then I know my country of origin and helps me to better understand my family's origin. Also this factor makes me unique because it makes me different than a lot of people due to the fact that half of my blood is from a mysterious country/place from China think of it like a forgotten Civilization.

The other factor that makes up my identity is the choices I make. Choices is one of my factors because the choices that I made is how other people view me as me. Also Choices shows people my personality and how I work either with myself or other people. This factor has affected my life because it is what shaped me to be me. Lastly it made me unique because our choices are our own choices which meant that my choices were unique than a lot of other people.

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Hi, my name is Claire Hung. I am currently in 9th grade and I came from Jeffrey Trail Middle School.

The first factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I was born in the U.S., but both of my parents were Taiwanese. I have moved back and forth from the U.S. and Taiwan. This allowed me to be accustomed to both countries, including its traditions and culture.

The second factor that makes up my identity is my interest for television shows. I enjoy watching anime for many reasons. I enjoy its character art and life lessons that it teaches. It has made me feel very interested in Japanese culture, traditions, and its language.

Both of these factor have made me explore lots of traditions and culture. For example, I enjoy eating moon cakes when it is the moon festival in Taiwan.

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Hello my name is Peter Rhee and I am in 9th grade, and I just came from Jeffery trails Middle school.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Both of my parents are Korean, and they are both immigrants from Korea. This affects my life by the stuff I do, like the food I eat. It also affected my life is that my mom speaks only Korean to me and my dad only speak English to me. I mostly talked to my dad so I really don't know what my mom is saying to me in Korean, so it made it difficult to speak to my mom sometimes.

Another factor is my nationality, even tho my parents are from Korea I was born in America. I was glad that my dad taught me English, cause without it I will be having some issues. I also know some words in Korean cause my mom speaks only Korean to me. This affected my life by many ways, because sometimes I don't know what my mom is talking about because she is speaking in Korean.

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Hi my name is Natalie. I'm in 9th grade and I came from Jeffery Trail Middle school.

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I was born in Vietnam but three months after I was born, I moved to California in Anaheim. This helped me learn about American culture and Vietnamese culture.

Another factor that makes up my identity is my interests for cooking. I love to cook and it helps me understand other people's culture and what they eat.

Both of these factors make me who I am and have helped me with understand other people and what they believe in.

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Hello, my name is Christopher Hartanto and I am currently in 9th grade. I came from Beacon Park before I arrived here at Portola.

One of the factors that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. This part's a bit complicated. My two parents were born and raised in Indonesia. However, their heritage is mostly Chinese. The majority of my ancestors came from China. Although my parents are from Indonesia, I was born in California. Socializing with others was certainly strange since being an Asian wasn't as common as it is now. I wasn't entirely isolated but I would occasionally receive weird stares. But now that I'm older, everyone around me has been kind enough to accept who I am.

Another factor is my interest, which is drawing. As a kid, I grew up loving art. I was drawing since kindergarten and so on. I could always find comfort and solace when I drew. It was like a getaway where I could just relax. However, I never met many people with the same interests, which caused me to isolate myself for a while. I would sit alone at a table and just draw. It was lonely, but certainly enjoyable. The perks were that I was able to know so much about nature and the world. As a kid, I could never draw something from scratch. As a result, I'd always search up animals, which birthed my new love for them. I also searched up the Wonders Of The World, which really intrigued me.  To this day, I still keep my love for animals and art. Sketching and doodling OC's (original characters) in my notebooks has also been a lifelong habit of mine which is one I intend to keep. The picture below is me drawing a Ninetails.

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Hello, my name is Henry Shi and I am in 9th grade and came from Beacon Park. Two factors that make up my identity is my race, both of my parents are born from china and immigrated here after I was born. I was the only Chinese kid back in second grade. Later on, I made more friends who were Asian. My second factors are my interest in gaming. During the summer I have been playing video games for most of the day. Playing video games has made my family think I'm going to be blind. Most of my friends play video games too which we connect through.

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Hello! My name is Hunter Kim, I am currently 14 years old, and I just finished my semester at LBCS near the Sacramento Area, before I came here to Irvine, and Portola.
One of the factors that make up my identity is my ethnicity. Only one of my parents are American, the other is from South Korea, he was born there and moved to America when he was 10. Although when I went to school there were mixed classes those people soon left, and I was one of the few remaining. I felt isolated at the time, but as I became older I grew more confident with myself, and was more willing to try new things. Even though this is a new place, I feel like I can get a fresh new start and meet new people. I follow both english, and some korean traditions, but I can equally balance it out, and continue on with my current hobbies and daily routines.

My second factor that makes up my identity is my interests. I sometimes like to talk to my friends through different apps, or play videogames with them, such as Minecraft or Amoung Us. I also watch youtube videos on different places around the globe and historical events, such as the Cold War, and the different projects that were underway by japan during World War II. I used to be really like trains, when i was a little kid, but I have long lost that fascination. It is out interests and the choices that we make that show us who we are to ourselves. And everyone is different, people have some common race, religion, interests. But we all have our own identity.

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Hi my name is Katie Johnston I am in 9th grade and I came from beacon park middle school.

One factor that makes up my identity would be my ethnicity. I was born in England and i lived there until I was three years old and then my family moved to Bonn, Germany. I lived in Germany for most of my life i was there for 5 years or so when i moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in the Untied States. I spent 2ish years in Ohio when 3 years ago i moved here to California. Having moved so much as a child my family celebrates a lot of traditions. Most of the traditions I celebrate are English but some of them are German too.

The other factor that makes up my identity would be my Interest  in video games. I first started playing games with my cousins when i saw them over holidays we would play games like minecraft, FNAF, and mario cart together all the time. Playing games with my cousins was something that made me feel really included in my family and it was something we could all do together. Our love for video games is the one thing we have in common and can talk about. I feel like playing games with them is what has kept me having a relationship with them since i barely ever see them its something we can do together and it takes us back to when we were kids.

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Hello, my name is Ethan Chan and I came from Beacon Park and in 9th grade. My first factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. My parents are both immigrants from Hong Kong and came to California for college. Both of them are entirely Chinese making me 100% Chinese. Being Chinese at my school wasn't to common so I had some differences with my classmates. I had different food then my other friends and was shocked to see them curious at my fried rice. Because of my ethnicity I stood out from my friends but it made me feel unique in a good way. My second factor is my Nationality. Although my parents were from Hong Kong I was born and raised in America. Being a Chinese American made me stand out because I had to learn the language everyone was speaking. Fortunately I had a friend teach me English because I grew up mainly speaking Cantonese. I didn't like learning the Country's Native Language but at the end I was able to talk to others and feel like I fit in.

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Hello, my name is Kiet. You can call me Victor for easy to call and I'm in 9th grade. I came from school in Viet Nam . I just came here 5 months ago.
One factor that make me up  my identity is my ethnicity. I'm the son of my dad and mom they are all Vietnamese people.  This is the first time I study in America. Sorry I don't have a lot of thing to say.

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Hello! My name is Andrew Preston, I am 14 years old & just graduated from Jeffery Trail. My identity is mainly composed of my ethnicity, & my sexuality (let's not talk about that). My mother is Ashkenazi Jewish & my father comes from Welsh descent. Being Jewish heavily affected in the sense that I observed Jewish traditions, & ate traditional foods during the Shabbat, & Passover. Though I'm not really open about my culture anymore, & my beliefs don't necessarily align with it as much as they used to. It was really awkward for me to be open about my religion when I was being called Islamophobic, & Jew Boy by my classmates...

Now let's move on from that! Another major factor that makes up my Identity is my love of Art. I used to constantly draw in my notes & textbooks; (P.s. I still do). I also happen to be a huge animation geek. The downside being that It's really hard for me to find people who share the same interests as me since I can never seem to find anyone who is as passionate about it as I am outside of online forums.

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Hello, my name is Leon Hoang and I am in ninth grade. Before I came to Portola, I was in a middle school called McGarvin.

One of the factors that makes up my identity is ethnicity. I am a son of two Vietnamese parents. Being Viet has affected my life because I had to follow the tradition and the food that I eat. It wasn't difficult to be Viet because there was also people that were Viet. I felt good being Viet until I started to play soccer. When I started to play soccer I was in a team that spoke English, and then my friend invited me to a soccer team. The problem was that they only spoke Spanish. Being Viet started to affect me in a negative way but I started to get use to Spanish and try to learn some. I learned to appreciate who I am and my identity. Another factor that makes up my identity is my interest in soccer. Before the virus I played soccer matches every weekend and play with most of my friends. Playing soccer has affected my life because I made a lot of new friends and learned a lot about the Hispanic culture. I also got to meet some professional soccer players and see professional soccer games. This has also made me more passionate about soccer, and wanting to become a professional soccer player. I hope I can get back on the field and start playing matches again. Also the picture below is me and my friend with a professional soccer player.

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Hello, my name is Kaili Hellewell. I am 14 years old, I went to school at Beacon Park. Before that I went to Woodbury Elementary. I was born at Houg in Long Beach and raised in Irvine my entire life.
One  factor that makes up my identity is my passion for dancing. I am a dancer of 12 years. I started dancing when I was 2 years old and continued ever since. This factor plays a large role of my identity because I can't go a day without dancing.
Another factor that makes up part of my identity is my love for movies. Some movies that really contributed to my identity are Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Divergent, and of course Disney movies. I also love the TV show Dynasty.

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Hello! My name is Lena Kim, and I am a 9th grader coming from IAR Middle School in Connecticut.

Factors that make up my identity are my ethnicity and interest. My parents are both Korean, and I was born in Florida, so I have a dual-nationality. I always defined myself as a Korean American, and it has influenced my interests, hobbies, and likings. Like Ms. Wi, the foods I eat, traditional cultures I follow with my family, and the language I speak with my relatives are all affected by my ethnicity. Even things I like to watch, read, and listen are affected by them! This culture influenced my overall, and I think that the cultures I  follow made me a third-cultured person. Because I have both Korean and American cultures and identities blended in me, which I consider unique!

Another factor is interest. I love K-pop, tv shows, K-dramas, food, clothing style, and more! Those interests are mostly influenced by my family, who lives in South Korea. Whenever I go to my grandparent's home in Korea, I always used to watch the tv shows of Korea. My music tastes and the things I love about Korea has been not only my pure love them, but it has also been affected by my Korean culture! I also moved 8 times in my life so far, not because of my interest or anything, but still I always get to meet good people around me. Some people say that it's because I'm friendly to new people, but I think I'm always lucky to meet them. Sooooooo I am really looking forwards to meeting you peoples!!

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Hi, i'm Julian Aguilar i'm in 9th grade and I came from Jeffery Trail Middle School.
I'd say the first thing that makes up my identity is my Ethnicity. My dad is Mexican and my mom is Filipino so I have been exposed to lots of things within those cultures. I've talked to my parents to see where my older relatives were born and what there lives are like and some have been born in Mexico or the Philippines and so they have been around the culture of those areas which eventually in my parents interpretation has lead to what I do in my culture today.
Second, I want to say what makes my identity even better is not just ethnicity, but also my interests. How my parents grew up and what they love and think is the right thing or different has affected the things i'm interested in and lots have been similar to my parents and some they see as like a whole other language but eventually learn the basics. But for example, I love anime. I wouldn't say video games or sports because my dad likes those and all my family is very familiar with those subjects and something that I like that none of my other family members like is anime. Being introduced to pokemon at such a young age really exposed anime to me and in the future leading me to other animes like FullMetal Alchemist, Black Clover, etc. But other then hobbies and stuff I do I don't do much because I stick to what I know best and explore more when I know I can become the best. A lot of things I do i've done since my brain can remember and writing and creating or just designing stuff is something else I really love to do. In general, I love the way I am and what I do because to where I am now i'm not sure what I would've done without my culture, interests, beliefs, hobbies etc.

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Hello my name is Pieer Malaty and this year I'm going to be attending Portola high school as an 9th grader. before I came to high school I went to jeffery trail middle school. my identity is basically my ethnicity my parent are both from Egypt and I was born and raised their so were my parents and my mom came from the north of Egypt and my dad from the south. but they both had the same culture they were both fully Christin and to this day we are still a Christin household. My bellies and religion effects the way I live and my family lives we have some exceptions we have to meet like there's not meeting each other before engagement and then getting married. this belief is Called assigned marriage it is basically your parents choose who they think Is right for you based on their knowledge. you might think that that's bad and they will get divorced soon but this will blow your mind people who have an assigned marriage have a less percentage of getting divorced than people who don't have assigned marriages and they live a longer and have a happier relationship. this is one of the factors and this relates to me because I will also have and arranged marriage because our beliefs and religion thinks that this is true and right. one other factor that makes up my life and religion is that the foods we eat the foods we eat we also have this time of year we call It fasting but not the fasting you know the fasting we do is that we eat specific food for a specific amount of time to honer or commemorate some one that has passed in our Christin history like we fast for the rising of Jesus and the death of his Mary mother and many others but this fasting is that we only eat vegan foods like we can't eat meat or chicken or fish only natural foods for a certain amount of times.

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Hello, my name is Madison Curran. I am in the 9th grade and I am from Jeffrey Trail Middle School.
One Factor that makes up my identity is my family values. My family is the main reason act the way I do. They've raised me to have manners and stick up for myself and i'm very thankful for them. This has helped me make friends.
Another things that Identifies me are my values/beliefs some are that black lives matter, no human is illegal, love is love, women's rights, and more. I think it's really important to stick up for yourself and what you believe in because it makes up you. This has made me lose some friendships but its for the better because they were racist and homophobic.

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Hi my name is Mason Nguyen. I am in 9th grade and for middle school I went to Jeffery Trails middle school. My Identity is basically my ethnicity because my parents are Vietnamese one of my parents were born in Vietnam and one was born here. Even if I am not fluent in Vietnamese I feel like it still helps Identify me. I think something else that helps identify me is Interest. I am interested in a lot of things such as hanging out with friends. I feel like interest can help identify who someone is by showing what they like to do and to see if someone has something in common with another person. I like to hangout with my friends because it shows who I really am.

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Hello! I am Koyna Bhagat! Before I came to be a freshman at Portola High School, I went to Beacon park K-8 (roar!)!

One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity! My parents are both 100% Indian! My parents both grew up in India, and my mother moved to Los Angeles, California at the age of 8. She had a rough childhood. She was never allowed to go anywhere besides school. She never went to sleepovers, parties, dances, or to visit her friends! She grew up in a neighborhood with gangs, ruffians, and mobsters. My father moved to Los Angeles, California alongside my mother once they were married. Similar to the way Ms. Wi mentioned the show, “Indian Matchmaking,” my parents had an arranged marriage. Being Indian has affected many parts of my life such as the foods I eat/am allowed to eat, the way I dress on occasions, the things I believe in, the language I speak, the way I look, and many more! At my old school, there were these 2 Indian boys that made it seem like being Indian was a bad thing. The way they acted allowed our classmates to make fun of us. They assumed that Indians are poor, we have to be smart, we are filthy, we live in houses made of trash, and we have horrid accents. This actually made my Indians friends and I very, very angry. We actually entered a contest about podcasts, and made one about why bullying, racism, and making fun of people is not okay! We won! I think that people are quick to judge a group of people because of the way one person behaves. No, we don’t all have accents (I actually think accents are fun☺️), we don’t eat gross or smelly foods, etc. People have also been quick to judge that I am adopted because I may not look Indian because of my fair skin color, or that I am Mexican or Spanish because i can speak Spanish pretty well. Overall, my ethnicity is a big part of who I am, and I am very proud of it!

Another factor that makes up my identity is my passion for dance! I have been dancing since I was 4 (it's been 10 years!), and honestly cannot think of a passion for something stronger than dance! I have learned multiple styles of dance, and I cannot wait to continue my dance journey here at Portola High! I have taken 2 forms of cultural dance (related to my ethnicity) for many many years, and my family catches me dancing while walking, eating, or even brushing my teeth almost DAILY! I really love to dance, and I am actually pretty good at it! Dance has made my life very fun, busy, and bright! I am so glad that my mother pushed me to dance at a young age! She is the reason that I am at where I am today! Thank you!

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Hi my name is Deyanna Hashemi Tari. I am in 9th grade coming from Beacon Park K-8 School. 

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Hi my name is Deyanna Hashemi Tari. I am in 9th grade coming from Beacon Park K-8 School. 

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One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. Both of my parents were born in different countries, my dad being from Iran and my mom being from Afghanistan. My mom moved here when she was three years old with her whole family to escape the war. She grew up in Santa Barbara and had a difficult childhood seeing as her and her family were afghan immigrants who had little money.My dad had been born in Iran and lived there until he was 13 and moved to Sweden. He is the youngest of 7 kids and was never really paid attention to in his household. Coming from two predominantly Islamic countries have affected many aspects of my life.Such as my religion, the languages I speak (Farsi), my culture, how I was raised and what my parents taught me, as well as the food that I eat and the music I listen to. In school being muslim was sometimes difficult because I would get made fun of and called a
"terrorist" because I was open about my beliefs. I had embraced who I was and chose to be proud of what I believe instead of listening to the words of other people.

Another aspect of my life that shapes my identity is my love for swimming. I have been swimming since I was three and have been competitive swimming for 3 years. Swimming has taken up a huge role in my life seeing as I would be at practice for 2 and a half hours 4-5 days a week practicing and going to swim meets once a month.  have made many friends and built very good relationships with a lot of my coaches. Although I haven't been in a real pool in almost six months due to covid 19 I haven't lost my love for it. When we are able to go back to school I plan on trying out for the Portola swim team.

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rHi my name is Yen, I am a Freshman, and last year I attended Jeffrey Trails Middle School.
One factor that makes up my identity is my ethnicity. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia. My father is half English and half Cape Coloured South African. My mother identifies as Cape Coloured South African. My ethnicity is a large part of my identity. It affects the food that I eat, the language which I speak, and the people who I surround myself with. Growing up in Georgia and Oklahoma, I often felt like an outcast because they are both primarily white states. I struggled to find friends and I did not feel welcome. When my family moved to Irvine in fourth grade, I felt as if I fit in much more because Irvine, and California in general, is much more diverse. My ethnicity makes me unique because there are not very many people of the same ethnic background as me.

Another factor of my ethnicity that has a heavy influence on my identity is my religion. I am an atheist, meaning that I do not believe in god as a large number of people do. I believe that the existence of a higher power, as many religions depict their figureheads, is speculative hypothesis of an extremely low order of probability. My beliefs have affected my life in many ways, from how I think, the texts which I read, how I approach my problems, and who I surround myself with. As an atheist growing up in the Southern US, I often struggled to find people that shared my beliefs. However, I was still able to befriend people without letting my beliefs get in the way. However, I often felt left out as many people partook in religious practices, mostly Christian practices, which I did not attend due to my beliefs.

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Hii my name's Audrey, but you can call me dree because my name sucks. I'm a freshman and i came from Magnolia in Riverside, and I used to live in San Bernardino. So this city is a whole new environment for me haha. In those cities i was surrounded by people as the same race as me, but now I'm surrounded by people from different backgrounds and i love that i get to experience new cultures! I identify as Mexican- American or what as most people refer to as Chicano and i see that as a big part of who I am. Back in San Bernardino and Riverside i fit in a lot more with my peers. But here i dont see too many people like me, which isnt a problem. I love having more diverse friends! I love my culture very much, but unfortunately im not as fluent in Spanish as i would like. Im still learning though! I enjoy watching anime and listening to music. I'm learning guitar and i enjoy boxing and martial arts. And watching classic martial arts movies.

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Hello my name is Skylar Barnes, I am fourteen years old, in the 9th grade, I previously attended Serrano Immediate school in Lake Forest California.

Something that makes me uniquely me is my ethnicity, born in a predominately caucasian community I am of African American and German descent. The community I live in makes its difficult for my family to maintain our culture and tradition, something simple as cooking a meal, certain ingredients can be difficult to obtain. Another factor that makes me me, is my interest. I participate in a lot of sports, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and soccer and swimming, I  love to cook, and create meals. I am active in my church as a youth leader, we travel to conference. I love to dance and make Tik Tok, these are some of the things that makes Skylar, Skylar.

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My name is Rider but if you want you can call me by my middle name (Cash). I attended JTMS in middle school.

Something that makes me, me is my ethnicity. I come from mexico and england, farther back in my family is from sweden and britain.

Another factor that makes up me is my identity. I love sports so much and I currently play baseball and football. I am new to football but I have played baseball since i was 3 on a team. I also love family and friends.