Time

 

The excitement of a new life was waiting for me. When a person makes a decision to start a new life, there is a kind of excitement that no one can describe. This new life can be about moving to a new country or about getting a new job. It is the feeling of starting a new thing.  That was one of the things that happened to me, and I was not expecting it. When I was in the university in Algeria, one of my friends enrolled me in the U.S immigration lottery. A few months later, I got selected. I could not believe it since it was not my dream to come to the United States.  It took me a lot of months to make the decision to come to a place where I did not know the language and where I did not have family or friends. I was excited but scared because I knew that I was going to discover a new environment, a new culture, and a new people.

When I arrived in Chicago, I did not know anything about it, but I committed myself to understanding more about the city, the culture, and the population. I started to know and celebrate a new holiday that I had never celebrated before, and I loved it. For example, in Algeria we never celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, and it is one of my favorite holidays now. I like to hang out with my friends and see the river dyed green and all the people outside celebrating this wonderful day with green clothes and different accessories. In Chicago, there are also a lot of activities that I can do that I could never do in Algeria. For example, climbing is one of my favorite’s activities. In Algeria, I am from a city called Béjaïa. Béjaïa has a lot of mountains, but not a lot of people like climbing and there was not a safe place where I could do it. However, in Chicago, there are a lot of places where I go to climb, and it is amazing.

Since I came to Chicago, three years ago. I have adapted myself to many things, but I still do not understand parts of this culture. For example, healthcare. In Algeria, a doctor visit and medicine are low cost and there are free clinics for families who do not have a high income. However, In the United States is different. A lot of people cannot go to the doctor or cannot pay for their medicine because it is really expensive. There is also another point that I do not really approve of, and it is education. The education in the United States is also expensive. Students must work too many jobs to pay for their studies, and it can be hard when they do not have the necessary help or resources that can pay for it.

Each country has its unique characteristics, and the United States is no exception. Like all other countries, there are things that one person can like and others that another cannot. After having some trouble adapting myself to a few concepts in America, I understood that it is all about time. Besides the time I know more about the place where I live, about the language, and the culture. The time has allowed me to identify things that I love and the ones that I do not without paying attention to any stereotypes or assumptions.

The Story Behind My Name

 The story Behind My Name

I have always thought that my name is different, it's hard to pronounce even for my family and friends, but at the same time I need to admit that I love that my name is not thar common. I realized that I like mu name when I was in Kindergarten. I asked my mother why she decided to name me Brienz, and she immediately responded and blame my father. To be honest, I always thought that they decided my name while they were drunk, But I was wrong. She explained to me that he chose that name because of the color of my eyes. Back in Switzerland there is a province with the same name an there is also a bank and a lake. The deep blue color of that lake reminds them of the color of my eyes, so that was the real reason.

When I thin about it, I feel happy because is original even if my parents are not from Switzerland, they took their time to chose a meaningful name for me, and it feels like a gesture of love.

 

Sarmila Dumre Parajuli

ESL 100 CE,

February 3, 2024

A Fabulous Moment

              My name is Sarmila Dumre Parajuli, and I am from Nepal. I speak Nepali and little bit of English. I live in Chicago, and I have been here since 2016. I have a big family in my country, Nepal, my grandfather, grandmother, mother father, brothers, but I am the only one daughter, so my name is Sarmila. It means comfort and protection in Nepali, and in English it means joyful. I like my name because my mom and dad gave it to me, and it means joy and happiness come to our home. My name is different than other people in my family. When I was born at home, my family felt so proud to meet I has like a princess because of the many boys in our house. I have seven brothers who are so nice, and they loved me when I was born. At that time, my family made parties and worshiped the god Ganesh because my family belong to Hindi religious, and they worshiped for giving them gift like a me because they put my name was Sarmila. My name is so popular in our family, so l like my name and I am proud of my family who gave me the name Sarmila.

              In addition, Nepal is still male – dominated country because in our culture every family must be born boy, and everybody has given priority of man. Although everybody wants to only son in their family, my mother and father want to bring to be daughter. My name was so cute and fabulous when I listened. When I raised in my house with my family, I think I always in the garden. Because I am so happy and proud to be myself, I was born in my family due to their loveliness and happiness. Now a days, I am here so far from my family, but I always love, miss, and care for them my whole life so, I am happy for my name is Sarmila.

Coco

 Coco 

My name is Jayanti. It is the name of God in the Hindu religion. God has the power to protect people, so my mom thinks she will protect me in every situation when I have a bad time.  My mom gave me this name because of these ideas. She believes in the Hindu God. There is also another reason my mom chose my name. I have one sister, and her name is Jyoti. My Mom wanted to match the first letter of their name and the last letter of her name with my name, which continues from my mom's ancestors. My mom and grandmother also have similar names that match their name's first and last letters.

 Besides my real name, there is also another story of my nickname. When I came to the United States, I started working at Dunkin, and my coworkers gave me the nickname Coco. They felt uncomfortable pronouncing my name and gave me a new nickname, Coco. I like that nickname because I had never had one before. When I first arrived, I faced many struggles in the United States while ordering food and coffee at the store. Whenever I used my real name, Jayanti, people always pronounced it wrong, so I started using my nickname in this situation, which was easy for me. 

People should love their names. Every name has a different meaning. Loving one's name is like gaining self-confidence, so never feel ashamed of your birth name. I love my name, Jayanti. 

Origin of my name

                                                                    Origin of my name

    My name is Davis.  I was born in a Chinese family and raised in China. So I also have a Chinese name: 蓝天慰( Lan Tian Wei). In Chinese, people put their family name, which is from their father in the first, and the given or first name is last.

    蓝(Lan) is the name that was from my father. It means blue in English. People may ask why my name is so weird? It is just a kind of color. I will tell them that the breadth and depth of Chinese culture is difficult to explain clearly in just a few words. The second character of my Chinese name is 天(Tian)  which means "sky" in English. My parents put them together to create my name 蓝天(Lan Tian) means“ blue sky". The meaning of my name is that my parents want my heart to be as clear as the blue sky and my mind to be as open as the boundless sky. The last character of my Chinese name is 慰(Wei). It has many meanings such as consolation, comfort, and becalm. The reason my parents gave me this character 慰 as the last character of my Chinese name was that they wanted me to be calm and comfort myself when I encounter difficulties, and not to be a reckless person. I am surprised that the name my parents gave me really fits my personality!

    Finally, people may ask how did you get your English name Davis. Whether they believe it or not, I would say because it sounds  like my Chinese name and I gave it to myself.

The K in My Name

                                            The K in My Name

 

My name is Nikolle Kowalsky. My mother gave me this name after being a big of Nicole Kidman years ago, but she wanted to do something different with the name. She added, two "I", and my father add a "K" because of his last name "Kowalsky". They did the same to my brother. His name is Lukas, following the same style. The tradition of adding a "K” to names didn't stop with my parents; others in the family did that too.

I really enjoy my name because I love how different and unique the spelling is and that few people have the same name. Another fact that I like is that the "K" in my name is connected ed with my whole family making more special for me. When I have my own children, I want to continue with this tradition and use a K in their names. I believe that this is a form to keep our family ties strong and maintain some connection through the generations.

When I think about my name, I believe that is a very strong name with a lot of personality in both languages, English and Portuguese. I don't think my name sounds soft when it's said out loud. That's why my parents and family are used to calling me "Niki" when the conversation isn't so serious.

"My Name" from a Fairy Tale

 

 

“My Name” from a Fairy Tale

 I like my name and appreciate my mother for choosing this name. This name came from a book that my mother read when she was pregnant. It is a story about a woman named Karina, who helped and saved people from a drowning ship in the ocean. Since my early childhood I have loved to swim. The sea is my element. One of the best childhood memories I have is going for a swim on the Volga – a river that flows in my native city. I always swam for so long that my lips turned blue and my mother scolded me and asked me to get out of the water, but I felt like I was a mermaid and belonged to the sea. Today the passion for water has not disappeared. It is important for me to live in a city next to water and it is not just about having an enjoyable time on the beach, it is about calming my soul. When I feel stressed and nervous, one helpful way for me is to walk to the sea. It helps me calm down and listen to myself. Meditation on the beach with the sound of the waves and the blinding sun gently tingling on my skin is my favorite activity. I close my eyes, concentrate on breathing, and completely disconnect from this world, plunging into myself. After this I feel peaceful and happy, ready to start solving issues with innovative ideas and my head cleared of bad thoughts. I have a strong connection in my real life with the sea, and I am confident because of the story of my name. I have remembered this connection my whole life since my birth. This name means a lot to me, and it has always been a sign of strength that I, just like that girl, will help people and save them. My purpose in this life. I am proud to have such a history of my name because it complements and reflects me as a person.

What is My Name

                                                          

                                                             What is  My Name

    My name is Yafeng Yu（余雅锋） or people can call me by my English name Jason. I was born in Guangdong Taishan.  Most of the time people call me Jason but they usually call me J, and I like it because it is simple and people remember my name better. I actually don’t like when people call me by my Chinese name, because most of the time people can’t pronounce correctly and they can’t remember it either. That is the reason why I prefer using Jason or J more often. My chinese name came after my older sister. Her name is Yating Yu and my Dad named meYafeng Yu. It is quite similar, only one of the word Feng (锋) is different. The meaning behind my Chinese name is “wish me to stay healthy all time in my life”. 

    In the end, as long as people are nice and show respect to me and my name, I'm fine with what they want to call me either Yafeng Yu, Jason, or just J. Since we all have different names, what matters most is respect. It's all about being kind to each other and appreciating our differences.

                       

Behind My Name

 

Behind My Name

 

            My name is Miriam, but my family sometimes calls me Yam or Mir. When I was

 

young, my brother usually made joke about my name because my mother took it from

 

One of our brilliant senators in the Philippines. She was a smart, intelligent woman.

 

Who was very helpful and fought for the rights of everybody. She always believed that

 

Right is always right and justice for everybody. However, I am not that woman. I always

 

told my mother. “That she gave the name to the wrong person, and she usually said no.

 

That I am generous and always taking care of them even though I am the youngest in

 

the family. I became the bread winner.

 

            Although my personality is different than this senator is name, Miriam Defensor

Santiago, one thing I liked or loved about my name is that I was raised by my family to

 be a responsible person and know the word respect. Although may not be as smart as

her. I’m proud of having the name Miriam. An Independent woman.

 

MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO

Miriam Defensor Santiago - Earned the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cumlaude; and Bachelor of Laws, Cumlaude from the University of the Philippines. Went on a fellow ship to the United States, and earned the Master of laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees at the University of Michigan Ann Harbor.

        Was a Filipino scholar, academic, lawyer, judge, author and statewoman who served in all three branches of the Philippines government: judicial, executive and legislative. Was named one of The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World in 1997 by The Australian.

 

 

 

My Dear

            It is always hard for me to explain my name to people, but it doesn't mean I don't like it. Most people think I'm Arabic because my country is in the Middle East. I don't blame them; because the history and geography of the Middle East is complicated. It is true that most of the countries in Middle East are Arabic countries, but not my country, Iran.

I'm Persian, and I speak Farsi. Maybe I can say I speak one of the oldest languages, and I'm happy that my family chose a Persian name for me, because using Arabic, English or Turkish names is also common in my country. My name was in old books and poetry from Persian writers, and poets in old days like Hafez, Saadi or Rumi. My name comes from the word Naz, it is the word that we use when we want to mention something as lovely, beautiful, or cute. But my name is also used to say a person is dear. My Nazanin means my dear.

In the old days, when writers or poets wanted to read a poetry or a story that contained a life lesson, they started their poetry or their story by calling the readers my Nazanin. The act of sharing life lessons and experiences was a gift that they wished to offer to their dear readers. While Nazanin is a common name in Iran, for me it's a special name. It brings me joy when I read Persian poetry, and I can find my name there.

An Uncommon Name

 An Uncommon Name

       My name is Weibin Tan, and the Hanzi are 谭伟斌. I have used it since I was born. I like my name because it is not common. I have only met one person whose name is the same as me until now. The important thing is that there are not any other words that can describe my name. For example, I have a friend named Guodong, and 果冻 are the same pronunciation in China. 果冻 means jelly, so we always made fun of his name.  My name was given to me by my father. I heard that my parents discussed my name for three days before I was born. They told me the meaning in China is that I can study and exercise well because Bin(斌) can be divided into two parts. 文 means study, and 武 means exercise. In addition, I was not named after anyone because I am one of the older people in my generation. My cousins are all younger than me. Moreover, I have a younger brother who was named after me. His name is Weijie Tan. Finally, the word shy comes to my mind when I think about my name. I think the reason is that I am so shy. In addition, my name is difficult to write in Chinese. My last name Tan(谭) has 14 strokes, and Bin(斌) has 12 strokes. In short, this is my name’s introduction, and I do not want to change my name. 

The Beauty

Jamila Valiyeva

 My name is Jamila. Jamila is an Arabic word that means beauty or beautiful. Since I was a child, I did not like my name. I thought that I had a difficult and long name. I always hoped that when I would become a grownup, I would immediately change my name. However, at the age of fifteen, I started to like my name, especially when people told me that this name suits me because in their opinion, I am beautiful. That is why I changed my mind and started to like it.  The only thing that is a bit awkward for me is that Spanish speakers pronounce my name with an “H” like Hamila. In fact, Hamila means “pregnant” in Azerbaijani, and it is funny but also not because automatically I start to laugh, and people get confused. Although my parents did not know how to name me. They changed my name for three times. Sometimes, I am glad that they did, but sometimes I think that would I like it as I do like Jamila. Frankly, I have no idea. That is why I like and am glad that I was named Jamila.

Marieluchis

Marieluchis

In a crazy way, my parents decided my name when my mom was giving birth. They had the opportunity to think of my name for nine months, but they preferred to think of the name when I was born. My dad thought of the name Gregoria because my dad’s name is Gregorio, but my mom for some reason didn’t like it. After thirty minutes in the hospital, they said that Mariela was the perfect name for me.

It is certain that I for sure was not named after someone, but if I had been, it would have been pretty cool. I like my name because it is very pretty. The one and only thing I don’t like about my name is that it I can’t say that it isn’t unique, because I know several other people with that name.

My name doesn’t have any significant meaning or at least that is what I think. I could be wrong, but even if one day I ever had the opportunity to change my name, I wouldn’t because I love it.

 

Medal

            My name is Wissam. My mother was the one who chose my first name. I did not know the significance or the meaning of my name, but I believe that she named me after one of her old best friends. They shared a lot of experiences together such as school, university, pregnancy, etc.

            I do not really like my name, and I have always tried not to think about it. I recently did some research, and it seems that Wissam means badge of honor or medal. This research has changed my mind. I discovered that my first name matches my personality because I am a person who always does her best to succeed, achieve her goals, and win the life medal for different situations.

            To name someone is really difficult because each person has their own preference. A lot of people think that their name should represent their personality, and they have to feel good about it. Not everybody will agree with this mindset because not feeling good about oneself does not mean that the problem comes from the name of the person, but it can be something else. For example, some people change their name, and they still feel bad about themselves.

             In the future, I will do my best to name my children with a nice name even though there is a chance that they will probably not like it.

An Unexpected Name

Lismar Acosta

An Unexpected Name

    Smart and Ocean are the words in Spanish that will help people remember my name. Although my name is not common to hear and it doesn’t have a  particular meaning, I like it because it is pretty and unique. If someone asks me if would change my name, I will say no, but the story behind my name is weird and unexpected.

    Peter, my brother, chose my name. I thought that my parents chose it, but I was wrong. I never expected that my brother was the person who chose my name because he didn’t like the idea of having another sister. Lismar. My family never heard that name before and that made the family curious. After repeating the name Lismar more than ten times, they decided that it would be perfect.

    In Venezuela, which is the country that I come from, there is a tradition that most families create the names of their babies by choosing the names of the siblings or grandparents and putting them together. My parents thought that the name came from my sister, Helimar. They assumed that my brother just deleted the H and E, and added an S in the middle of I and M. When I was seven years old, I asked my mom why they liked my name, and my mom said that it came from my sister Helimar because it is also a beautiful name. Everything was going great until I turned fifteen and my brother told us the real story behind my name. Peter decided to tell everybody the story of my name in my fifteen years party. When my brother was twenty years old, he was obsessed with a woman called Lismar Bravos, who was a porn actress. On a Sunday morning, my mom told my siblings that they should help her choose a name, and my brother without thinking twice said “Lismar is a beautiful name”. Everyone in the family agreed, so I was named after a porn actress. Everyone, especially my parents, was shocked; even the DJ was shocked after listening the story. People laughed about that, but I was not uncomfortable with the situation, instead, I started to laugh too.

    My name is perfect, and I love it, but every time that someone asks me about where my name comes from, I have to say that I was named after my sister but I little bit different. Sometimes, it is funny to remember the moment when my brother just decided to tell me where he picked that name. Brothers should not choose the name of their little sister because maybe the parents will never know the real story behind it.