All About Me, Me, Me

So when I saw that I was tasked with the assignment of creating an accurate and rich persona to gain insights about myself and people like myself, I was thrilled. Reading the cohorts vignettes reminded me of how much I love making up stories and generalizing about random people I see on the streets. Now it’s time to turn that on myself. Here we go!

Tam Le- young, open-minded student who is focused on forming social relationships and securing a full-time career

Personality:

·      There are two books in her room: The God Delusion and The New Testament. One was given to her by her father; the other, by a strange man on the streets. Which is which? Hint: Her father is a Buddhist who dabbles in atheism.

·      Tam does not believe in ghosts. They are just a figment of the imagination or a hallucination. People will see what they want to see.

·      Tam is going to spend her last spring break volunteering in Belize. She spent her previous semester studying abroad in England and traveling around Europe. She can ask for help in nine different languages.

·      She believes money is for spending on things that will make a person happier.

·      She is not athletic at all but she will attempt any new sport or game once.

·      She knits and goes to the shooting range for fun. She enjoys picking up odd hobbies.

·      Forever 21 is her favorite store. When it comes to fashionable pieces, which will go out of style in a few years anyways, it is better to have quantity over quality. But when it comes to wardrobe necessities, high quality is a must. For example, Tam likes to get her sweaters and long-sleeved, button-up shirts from Ralph Lauren.

·      Tam has twenty pairs of shoes and fourteen handbags in her college apartment alone. This is not her entire collection, just her favorites.

·      She lives and dies by her iPhone. She needs her iCal and Toodledo applications to remind her of her many obligations.

·      Tam gets a lot of her news from Twitter, which she sees as a more attractive and social form of the RSS feed.

·      Although she interned with a Top 40 station, listening to the radio for over 10 minutes bores her. She prefers her own podcasts, many of which are produced by NPR or the BBC. She is infatuated with Ira Glass’ voice.

·      Tam grew up in a strict Vietnamese household. She spent her childhood and adolescence fighting for her rights, like the right to sleepover at her best friend’s house or to use a tampon. Although Vietnamese was her first language, she often forgets her roots.

·      It takes her awhile to become close to someone. She still keeps in touch with a lot of her friends from high school and considers that bond to be special. She has known her best friend for over twelve years now.

·      Tam is environmentally conscious. She unplugs her chargers when they are not in use and reuses printer paper as often as possible.

·      She thoroughly enjoys musicals but not concerts or opera, although she is afraid to admit this last part for fear of seeming ignorant.

·      She believes most of the world’s problems can be solved with a creative application of technology and kindness. Some might call it naïve. She calls it having the courage to look at the world and its problems and to reject traditional methods that do not work and come up with new ones that will, even if it takes a lot of time and effort.

·      As a child, she spent many hours in her private backyard pool with her sister and her cousins playing a long-running imaginary game called “Orphanage.” It consisted of four orphans who fought evil with their magical powers. The game lasted for three years.

·      In first grade, Tam pulled out a book during her spelling test to make sure that her spelling of the word “giraffe” was correct. She has not cheated on a test since.

·      Tam got a perfect score on her first college exam- Introduction to Psychology.

·      Once, Tam was able to track someone down on Facebook without knowing his name and after only seeing him twice from afar.

·      Tam has held eleven jobs. She changes career aspirations every few months.

·      She would not say she has a true home. She has not lived any place for over nine months since graduating from high school. That is why she currently sleeps on a futon and all of her drawers are made of plastic. Everything is temporary until she gets a fulltime job that she will stick with.

·      Tam becomes annoyed when her peers use improper grammar and spelling online or in text messages. They are educated and should act like it.

·      For the fifth grade science fair, Tam invented glasses with lights attached to them so people can read in the dark. She loves reading.

·      She never has any trouble falling asleep. More than once, she has fallen asleep during sixth-grade choir practice while standing-up and singing.

·      Tam kicks herself when she lets a potential good deed go undone in front of her. For example, she feels awful when she does not give up her seat on the bus to an older adult and will re-visit the moment throughout the day as a reminder to never let that happen again.

Audio/Video:

·      MacBook Pro

·      iPhone 4

·      Photography

Outdoors:

·      Taking walks with or without one other person

·      Biking alone

·      Camping with friends

·      Laying out in the sun with friends

·      Going to the pool with friends

·      People watching with or without others

Sports and Fitness:

·      Attempting golf

·      Attempting Taekwondo

·      Healthy eating

Connoisseur:

·      Cultural Art/Events

·      Foreign Travel

Investor:

·      Not yet

Traditionalist:

·      Family life

·      Coin collecting

·      Our nation’s heritage

Other Interests:

·      Career-oriented activities

·      Self-improvement

·      Donate to charitable causes

·      Volunteer

·      Travel in USA

·      Fashion clothing

·      Current affairs/politics

·      Wildlife/environmental issues

I do not know what % of U.S. households fall under this cohort, but because I would like to believe that I am special and unique, I am going to go with 0.000017%.