Monday, April 11, 2011

Who are you? Who are you really?

Every year, twice a year, our students participate in a speech contest. Six boys are chosen to read an original 5 minute speech to the entire school. This morning one of the boys spoke about an interview at a local grocery store where the first question the manager asked him was "Who are you? Who are you really?" Zach was taken aback by the question and struggled at first to answer it. He eventually came up with a response worthy of being hired, but the question has been nagging at him ever since.

Who am I? Who am I really? How often do we ask ourselves these question? How often do we ask our student's this question? Should we have a ready answer? Should they?

I am an educator, a technology user, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a mentor, a coach, an athlete, a dancer, a reader, a writer, a searcher, a thinker, a film maker, a leader, a sharer, an advocate, a talker, a listener and so much more.

In the end, Zach felt that who we are changes so constantly, that a better question is "Who do you want to be?"

Who are you? Who are you really? Who do you want to be?

Starting the week on a philosophical note...

P.S. You can see the conclusion of Zach's speech here.

6 comments:

Paul Bogush said...

This is a great question--I just posed it to a group of teachers at a conference on Thursday. After they had formulated an answer, I asked then to consider was their answer "Who they were?" or "What they did?" Too often we define ourselves by what we do...
Come on Liz...you are going to answer the question in your next post...right?

Liz B Davis said...

Paul,
I think I answered "Who I am" in this post. I have to think about who I want to be.

Who are you Paul? Who are you really? Who do you want to be?

I guess this post also deals with privacy, as our public answers are affected by what we want to reveal.

P.S. I added a link to video of the conclusion of Zach's speech.

Unknown said...

Who are you? A profound question. A question deeper than what you want to be. Elizabeth, the essence of you is more than your roles. The roles come and go Your mom.

Justin Hyde said...

Hi,
I am Justin Hyde and I am also student in Dr.Stranges EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama."Who are you?" can be made up of many different things. To me it is somewhat how I act, how I feel, and who I want to be. This is how I come up with the best answer for this question.

deelirium said...

I find this question thoroughly irritating. Maybe I don't want to reveal to my employer who I truly am and what I like to do our what I want out of life, etc. It's a very intimate and intimidating question imho.

Liz B Davis said...

Deelirium - You don't have to tell anyone the answer, but have you thought about it for yourself? Whether or not you make your answer public, I think it is worth thinking about and articulating an answer for yourself.