What's In a Name?

ELIZABETH PICKERING


My name, Elizabeth, is a Greek name from the Hebrew Elisheba. Its meaning is "the oath or fullness of God". In the Old Testament, Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist, therefore it is also a Biblical name. Throughout my life, my name has reminded me of my Catholic beliefs and how I should live my life. In this way, my name does define who I am, however, I have chosen to have my name define me. My last name, Pickering, is English. It is from the name of a town in North Yorkshire and was an Old English tribal name, Piceringas.

When I think of the times when I am "two", I think of being a student while also being a family member and friend. With these two roles comes a lot of conflict. It is very difficult to make time for friends and family while also trying to stay on top of school work and clubs/activities. I often find myself struggling to complete homework on time because I put more focus on my friends than on my studies. Other times I do not make enough time to spend time with my family because I am constantly doing work when I am at home. Also, I feel guilty when I skip social events to stay home and do schoolwork. It is difficult to find a perfect balance and I am not sure if it is possible. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 15, 2017 at 6:59 PM

    I really liked the way you deconstructed your name and went into the origin/symbolism behind it. I'm a real nerd for etymology so I found that very interesting. I also like the way you connected the meaning to your identity, showing how your name really says something about you. Also I can empathize with the struggles of being caught between school, friends, and other stuff and how that can make you feel like you're being stretched into two different roles.
    One thing which I found kind of confusing was this sentence, "my name does define who I am, however, I have chosen to have my name define me." I feel like some sort of typo happened there, but aside from that nice post!

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