Museum Display Artifact Narrations

My father was in the Navy for 20 years so I spent a lot of my early childhood moving (about every two to three years) until he finally retired when I was in eighth grade. I was born in San Diego and shortly afterwards we moved to Tennessee for a few months. After that we moved to Washington until I was two and my dad was then stationed in Misawa, Japan. We lived there until I was four and my little sister Kori, was born there. Even though I was very young, I remember bits and pieces, like the grand, colorful parades and festivals they held. I also remember a lot of Japanese people wanting to touch my then blonde hair for good luck. Their culture was very different from ours, but because I was so young when we lived there, I didn't really pay attention to the differences. After Japan, my dad was stationed in Port Orchard, Washington; Lemoore, California; and finally, when I was in fourth grade, we moved to Belfair, Washington. Belfair was our final move and where I grew up. Having to move so often was difficult, but it taught me a lot about the reality of life. People will always be in and out of your life. This taught me to appreciate the time you have with the people who are in your life because they might be here today, but they could just as easily be gone or moving away tomorrow. It also taught me the importance of being able to keep in contact with people even after you leave them. This lifestyle also showed me the importance of experiencing other cultures and lifestyles by allowing me to do so, no matter how mildly or extremely different they were from my own.

In addition to the moving, growing up without having my dad around all the time made me realize how difficult it must have been for my mom to raise three girls on her own. Being older and looking back on it, I can see everything my mom has done and sacrificed for my sisters and I. Compared to our lifestyle now, we didn't have a lot, but we didn't realize it then because we always had what we needed. This knowledge has opened my eyes to what it really means to be a parent and has prepared me for the future to know the type of parent I want to be. My mother has not only taught me what it means to be a parent, but she also influenced me in the way I decide to live my everyday life. She always stressed the importance of looking at things from all angles and perspectives. Her positive attitude, even in times of struggle, made a huge difference in how I chose to view the events going on in my own life. She taught me that laughter, especially the ability to laugh at yourself when something goes wrong, is an important thing to be able to do. It’s important not to take everything so seriously and to find light in all moments of life. She always told me “only you can decide whether you’re going to have a good day or a bad day.” This is something I believe to be true and constantly remind myself of when I’m having a bad day.

Even though my Dad was gone a lot, whenever he was home he made sure he spent every minute he could with my mom, my sisters, and I. He’s the one who got me into sports as a child. When I was younger he encouraged me to try out for multiple sports. I tried basketball, softball, and soccer. Eventually I realized that I liked soccer and softball most so those are the sports I stuck with. My Dad used to play soccer and would practice with me outside whenever he was home. He would also help my sisters and I practice for softball, showing us how to throw, pitch, and hit properly. Besides sports, my dad also taught me the importance of being motivated. I struggled a lot in school, mostly in elementary and middle school. I struggled mainly with math. After school, he would sit down with me and work on my math homework until I understood it. He wouldn't let me give up, no matter how upset I got. It’s because of him that school became so important to me and that I continued to be motivated to get good grades in high school and college. Whenever I had or have good grades to show him, it’s my way of thanking him for not allowing me to give up on myself and instead encouraging me to succeed. I am currently the only child in my family who has gone to and actually followed through with college. My dad also taught me the importance of being able to network. Unlike me, he has always been a very social person. By having the skill of networking, he has come across so many opportunities for himself, my sisters, and I. Networking is a major part of the American culture, because in almost any job you get you’re going to have to interact with people. Just by being an example, my dad has taught me a lot about that part of our culture and how important it is to utilize that skill.

Although I personally am not Mormon, I grew up around people who are. My mother’s side of the family practices Mormonism as their religion and so does my best friend, Jenelle. From fourth grade through high school I attended youth group and other church activities with Jenelle. I also attended church a couple of times with her, as well as my grandmother when my family visited. In doing so, I learned a lot about the religion and their beliefs. Even though I never adopted Mormonism as my religion, it did have an impact on me. It gave me the opportunity to examine the religion and decide whether or not it was right for me. In the end, I decided that there were some things that I agreed with and some that I did not. I had some good experiences with the church as well as some not so good experiences. In turn, I decided that attending this church wasn't necessarily for me. This sparked my interest in religion though, and as I did research on other religions, I began to doubt that attending any church would be right for me. I decided that I had more of an interest in learning about religions than actually adopting one. Even so, I was able to notice and find comfort in my own beliefs. I was discovered what works best for me as far as spirituality and religion goes. Although attending a church isn’t for me, I still believe in God and that I can have a relationship with him through prayer and reading the Bible. The relationship that I feel I have with God has become an important part of my life and has helped shape who I am. In turn, I am grateful for the experiences I’ve had with religion through my family members, best friend, and other members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints because without it, I would be a very different person.

My Grandmother taught me the importance of being a good neighbor (not just in the sense of living next door to someone) and the significance of “time” and how to use it wisely. She always donated her time to others, whether it was to people in her church, her neighborhood, her family, and even complete strangers. She was never the type of person to say “no” to someone in need. Seeing what a charitable person she was made me strive to be more like her. She also spent a lot of time with me teaching me about our family history. She had a large binder filled with information about our family history, and whenever I visited her, she’d pull it out for me to look through. She answered every question I had and loved to tell me stories that were passed down through the family. She sparked my interest in genealogy and made me realize the importance of our family history and knowing where we come from.

Jenelle has been my best friend since fourth grade. I really admired her as a person and friend, her outgoing attitude, the way she carried herself, her morals, and her values. I was always very shy, but somehow she managed to get me to break out of my shell a little every now and then. She has always been a very positive and happy person, which reflected back on me and my own attitude. She read a lot and introduced me to many different books, series, and authors, which remain some of my favorites today. I used to hate reading because I struggled with it, but as she continued forcing me to read all of these wonderful books, I realized what an amazing thing reading was. This also ignited my love for writing.

I am currently an English major with the creative writing option and am about to graduate in June with my Bachelor of Arts degree. What got me here was my discovery of a love for reading, thanks to my best friend Jenelle. Without her I probably never would have picked up a book and read it completely voluntarily. Because she ignited my love in reading, I was also able to discover a love of writing. I used to sit and daydream about things that would make for great books, or books that I would love to read and haven’t found yet. Eventually, I decided to write these stories myself. Since then, I took every English and creative writing class that I could in high school. After graduation, I decided that I was not done learning about literature and writing. As soon as I was accepted into EWU, I knew exactly what my major would be. Even though I was not allowed to declare my major until I was a junior, I took mostly English, literature, and writing courses, in addition to the few other subjects that were required for me to take. In continuing my education, I was also able to learn about other subjects that tie into writing such as publishing and editing, which are two very important things for writers to be familiar with. Reading and writing continues to be a part of my everyday life and shaped me into who I am. It allows me an escape from the world I live in, but it also helps me deal with thoughts and emotions that I might be having. It has been a huge influence over me and has created a career path that I otherwise never would have considered had Jenelle not introduced me to the wonders of reading.