First Year Hon. Mention: My (Dis)connected Identity

WRIT 1700C, Writing: Process and Practice. CD: Dunja Baus.

Abstract

The writer of “My (Dis)connected Identity” beautifully paints the audience a picture of what it is like to feel disconnected from your own identity. As a Canadian with a Middle Eastern background, the author shares their experience of hating their identity because of the racism they have endured, especially in the aftermath of various terrorist attacks. But, in a journey that begins with hiding who they are, the writer soon learns that there is more to their story than what society imposes on them. They gracefully compare their identity to an abstract painting—something that is open to interpretation and that can “morph into the multiple stories of their creators, conforming to even their most unusual ideas”—rather than a still landscape image. A personal essay should leave the reader to think about a larger human experience, and this piece excels in doing that, both by reminding us to not let a single story define us, and by embracing the multiple layers that make up who we are.