Jerry Banfield

Who are you really? This is a question I struggled with as a child, teenager and young adult. In the United States, we typically introduce ourselves by sharing our name, where we live and what we do for a living. Well, my birth name is Gerald (same as my Dad), I moved around growing up due to my Mom being in the Army, and I wouldn't hold a job for longer than a year when I was younger. I remember when I was an orientation leader at my college and we were supposed to introduce ourselves to the incoming freshman and include where we grew up. Each day I would tell the different groups of students I grew up in a different area and this made my supervisor angry. But, the truth was I did not know where I was from or who I really was as a person. During different phases of my life I have been involved with different groups, enjoyed different activities, held different jobs and spent time with different people. I have come to embrace that rather than associating myself with past accomplishments or past titles, I now