HOME

When I think of home my mind travels back to where I grew up in Lebanon, CT. I've lived in the same town and house my whole life and to me I feel that that is home. I have so many memories and experiences from home that it would be impossible to forget it. I think that everyone is influenced by where they grew up and it plays a role in shaping their identity. I often complain about my hometown because it's very rural and there's nothing to do in it but deep down it does represent a part of who I am. Home is something that you can't change and for some people they never truly branch out from their beginnings. Home is often viewed as a place of safety and comfort but I feel in order to be truly successful you have to distance yourself from your home slightly.
Home can also have changing definitions. For example, when you're younger it consists of your house and town but later on it can evolve into college, your apartment or even your first house. I feel that the idea of home can change through your life but you alway carry a part of your first "home" with you. In a sense our beginnings do play a role in forging our identities and this is inescapable. This partially relates to the idea of one's roots and how in modern African culture Afro-centrism still plays a role but there are also modern aspects that constitute African or African American identity.