Personal Family History Assignment - Essay Example

They say that you can never really go where you are supposed to unless you know where you came from. In this crazy, fast-paced world, no one could truly argue that this do not resonate the truth. Oftentimes, we are so caught up with the things we have to do that we forget that it is in the small things where the most important things count. Because knowing who you are goes beyond just providing your complete name or who you’re parents are. In as much as you are not simply a student, an employee, a mother or a father, because you are the product of generations of people that make up the puzzle that would complete the question ‘Who are you?

’ The National Geographic with its partners has taken it upon themselves to extensively provide an answer to this question. Through the ‘Human Genome Project,’ they have mjapped out a landmark undertaking to understand how different people ended up where they are today. In this study, they have found that all human beings descended from African ancestors approximately 60, 000 years ago. In essence, this is where we all started. The Genographic Project imparts details of ancient migration.

Headed by Dr. Spencer Wells and his team of international scientists including IBM researchers, they have exhausted genetic computational technologies to investigate DNA patterns from participants around the globe (National Geographic Society, “A Landmark Study of the Human Journey”). What makes this interesting is the stories unraveled through the course of the project. Furthermore, public participation is encouraged where those who willingly submitted, through their DNA samples has found interesting trivia about themselves.

Most of the results stunned the participants. One daughter even commented how her father who had already passed away was assured he was partly Nordic because of his blond hair and blue eyes. He was so sure that he even claimed his ancestors were Vikings. It turns out that he belongs to the haplogroup which points out that they are Phoenicians. A result so far off than what they initially thought and led to further interest among the family to continue the quest for their ancestry (The Human Family Tree Migration Stories, par. 1, 2009). Even the history of California suggests of its amalgamated history which contributes to the hodgepodge of people that inhabits it.

From being a Mexican province, people never thought it would be a territorial state until 10 days prior to the Mexican Cession, James W. Marshall, a New Jersey born mechanic, together with John A. Sutter found gold at Coloma. After this, a gold rush ensued and in two years California was dubbed the 31st state under the Union on September 9, 1850. More than a century later, it became the most populated state and remained so up to this day (Nunis and Lothrop, p. vii, 1989). My mother has shared that her mother is partly Asian.

They have migrated in the United States when the opportunity arose to find a better life for their family. Troubled by the unstable economy that they have lived through, it was a chance too good to miss out on when they were presented with it. I believe this is where my mother got the proclivity to instill in us a religious perspective in life. The spiritual attitude that her parents had was a manifestation of their culture. When everything else fails, she trusts that God will always be omnipresent to guide us and He will provide.

I have to admit I do not share the same extent of disposition as she does. It is more of a situational faith wherein, admittedly, I only recognize God when I am in dire need. Despite of this, I would still like to improve on my spirituality and my faith just as my grandparents have. Probably along the way I will be better acquainted with Him. This part of my ancestry is also the reason why we, as a family, are closely knit. Not just with my immediate family, but including uncles, aunts and cousins.

If there is a chance, we still get together especially during family occasions like weddings, birthdays and even funerals. During such time, we try to catch up through the initiative of the elder members of the family who reacquaint us on how we are related. My mother, when I was younger would tell of stories about members of my family. Even to date, there are times when she would assume that I know a relative or two even though it had been years since I last saw them, if I have seen them at all, for surely it would be hard for me to recognize them in an instant when a chance encounter presents itself.

These and so many more contribute to why I am the way that I am and how my family came to be at our current dynamics. Much like those who participated in National Geographic’s Genographic Project, there are things about myself that I would like to know more about. Perhaps, just like them I would discover tidbits about myself that would explain major parts of who I am or even the frivolous facts. The most important is that, more than knowing where I am going and what I want out of the life I am living, I would know who I was in connection with who I am.

This would lead me to better appreciate life as I live it. BibliographyA Landmark Study of the Human Journey. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 12 July 2010. .Nunis, Jr., Doyce B., and Gloria R. Lothrop. A Guide to the History of California. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.The Human Family Tree Migration Stories. National Geographic Society, 3 Sept. 2009. Web. 12 July 2010. .