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Personal Identity: Influences And Passions

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Identity: Influences and Passions
As I looked across the table, facing a man wearing a University of Wisconsin sweatshirt in the University of Michigan library, questions began to roll through my head. “What’s Chance doing here?” (which I will admit was a little harsh). To understand this fashion choice and its implications, I asked Chance the first question to come to mind, “So, where are you from?” Chance replied, “Well, I’m from Texas”. This only added to my confusion, but Chance quickly continued to answer, telling me “My family is from Texas, and I lived there for a short time, but eventually my family and I found ourselves in Madison, Wisconsin.” Continuing the conversation, I asked Chance to describe his own experiences in his youth. While Chance did mention his parents, a character that continually showed up in his past was his grandmother. Curious, I asked him “Could you tell me more about her?” Chance’s grandmother Mia, a single mother from Texas, had formed her own successful business in a time where misogyny was more prevalent and even …show more content…

Chance responded, “I play sax, which is pretty much the only hobby I can do at the moment as it’s so demanding”. As he told me this, I noticed that his eyes lit up with interest and excitement. Chance was first exposed to the saxophone at his church, which used the saxophone in gospel music. “My father loved the sound of it. I loved the sound of it. What I found most interesting was the range it could produce: from cheerful to this somber, nostalgic sound”. Soon after, Chance took up the saxophone in 4th grade. “Looking back, it was the most appealing instrument to a young 4th grader,” Chance chuckled. “Plus, my dad didn’t want me to do drums on the fact that those were too loud.” Following this selection, Chance continued with the saxophone through his youth. After high school, Chance had attended at the University of

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