What's in a name?
BRIANNA HELEN
My first and middle name come from both sides of my family. Brianna stems from my dad's name "Brian", and my middle name Helen comes from my aunt; whose middle name is also Helen. My aunt was named Helen after the Greek God, Zeus's daughter Helen of Troy. She was known as the most beautiful girl on the planet and was respected by all. My dad wasn't named Brian for any significant reason other than the fact that my grandma liked the name, but he named me Brianna after himself. I believe that since that it comes from my entire family, my name symbolizes me. Family means everything to me, and the fact that I am a symbol of them because of my name, it means even more.
As Anna Quindlen said, "there are two me's, the me who is the individual and the me who is a part of the family of four..." Beowulf is also shown battling between his two characters. He is a strong and powerful hero, while at the same time fight so many monsters and powerful beings; to emphasize his overall strength. He is only a man in Denmark, living among the Danes and Geats, but he is stronger than all and a close hand of God.
When reflecting on my life and any "double-life" scenarios, I can only think of my soccer career. This past year my team did very well, ending up going to Nationals, and I believe it was because of how close we were as a group. There are two sides of soccer; one being the individual skill you possess, and your teammates (how well you work together). I am an individual as a mid-fielder, but I am a teammate as well. Everyone on the team has the same double-identity with their specific role on the field, combined with the team's overall ability. In contrast to Beowulf's different roles, I don't have a battle between my team and individuality. I can embrace both forms of soccer and connect well with the team that I am on. However, sometimes the individual player might not be contributing to their team, causing problems. Vice versa, if the team doesn't work well together, it doesn't matter how good a player is. Soccer is a team sport and requires both of the "characters" I mentioned before. The combination of the two is what made up my soccer team, and what allowed us to do so well last year.
I really like how your intro summarizes not just what your name means, but how that name connects to how much your family means to you. Mentioning Beowulf, I would never have thought of Beowulf back in his home-country, instead of on the battlefield. By mentioning this, I believe you brought up an interesting concept of how much of Beowulf is a reflection of those around him and how much of him just being him. Finally with soccer, I loved how you brought up how being an individual and a part of a group doesn't have to be negative, but instead an experience where the group is greater than the sum of its parts. Congratulations on your success at Nationals!
ReplyDeleteWow Brianna, this was a very good blog. I wouldn't have even guessed that the "Helen" part of your name comes after the Greek god, that is very interesting. It is also very cool how your name is derived from both parts of your family, where as many other names are either only derived from one, or just randomly created. I also really like your soccer reference for double life scenarios, and I liked how you were able to look at both aspects of individual and teamwork when it comes to soccer, because both are very important.
ReplyDeleteI love how you explain that the meaning of your name doesn't necessarily define you but it's how you got your name that does. Plus, I think that its really cool that you see your name as a representation of your family since it was a group effort. I can relate to the "double-identity" you experience in soccer when I play softball. It can be really frustrating when an individual on a team doesn't play their part which hurts the team in the end.
ReplyDeleteI found your post to be really engaging. Brianna is a gorgeous name and it's cool to find out that you were named after your dad! (Your middle name seems to fit you as well) I loved the part where you related the "two me's" to soccer because I totally understand it and I think anyone who plays a sport would agree as well. You're right about how no matter how good the player is individual if the team doesn't work well than winning is difficult. Soccer is definitely a team sport and everyone should play it!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post Brianna! Like everyone has said it was really engaging and I could tell that you really put forth a lot of effort in order to express how much your name means to you. Relating and letting us know how your name also identifies you out of school was also interesting to read. I love when families actually try to make their children's name unique rather than just giving them a name that randomly pops into their heads. Being someone with an interesting name as well I can totally see where you're coming from when you talked about how your father named you after him cause my dad kinda did the same thing (:
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