As college students, we spend so much time learning what we think will make us successful. But in the long run, we may be missing a part of the bigger picture.
In spending so much time focusing on our futures, we forget about the importance of the past. And I’m not talking about the past we learn about in our history classes; I’m talking about our families.
Everything our ancestors did had an impact on who our families are — who we are — right now.
If it weren’t for my great-grandfather Amedeo Picchietti emigrating from Italy to the U.S., I may not be here. If he hadn’t chosen to go to Chicago, I would have a completely different past.
My fascination with my Italian side has been part of me since I knew it existed. In elementary school, I would tell people my middle name was Giovanni — rather than John — simply so that I would seem more Italian. Yet as much as I love that side of my ancestry, I knew very little about my ancestors until recently.
For Professor Anthony Edmonds’ Honors 199 class, we have to write a family history paper to conclude the semester. Before this, I knew that Amedeo came here from Italy, owned a grocery, met my great-grandmother and eventually had my grandmother. But until now, I’ve missed so many of the details that make my family what it is.
My family is not close to my dad’s side, so to this day I only know a few extraneous details about them. With that minimal knowledge, I felt like I knew plenty about my mom’s side. But I was so wrong.
During Spring Break, I interviewed my mom, dad and my grandparents on my mom’s side for my family history paper. Those interviews taught me about the origin of my family, the love stories and the struggles. This brought me closer to my family’s past, but also to my family itself.
My grandmother, Elizabeth Lens, opened up to me about the difficulties she has experienced during her life.
“We had a lot of things happen, but they made us stronger,” she said. “Everybody tells me now, you’re a tough woman. But I’m tired of being tough. I’ve had enough of it.”
And she is a tough woman. I’ve always known that. She’s the loudest member of the family. If she has an opinion, you better be ready for her to tell you about it. If she flicks you off, that’s her way of saying she loves you. I’ve known she is a tough woman, but she hasn’t always been this way.
She experienced a robbery in her dad’s grocery. She gathered her four children together to escape a house fire. She nurtured her children through their own troubles. And even these situations are the most miniscule details about her life.
At this point of our lives, we get so wrapped up in the mess of it all — What classes we need to take, what we want to do when we graduate, who we want to be.
But who did our ancestors want to be? What kind of people were they?
If we don’t take the chance to find out who the people in are family are and were, we can never truly find out who we want to be. The book learning of college will stay documented, but our family histories may be forgotten.
College can teach you a lot about the world, but your family can teach you a lot more about yourself.
