gfeliz's blog

For my educational background paper, I chose to write about my experience as a child who has a parent in the military and how that has affected me both positively and negatively. Initially, I was planning on writing about how I have struggled a bit to accept who I am through my educational experience; I have been to many schools where there hasn’t been much diversity or people who look like me. I have often found myself mixing in/blending with either my caucasian friends or my African-American friends and isolating myself from my race. But once I got to high school and opened my eyes to all the diversity that surrounded me, I then realized the importance of embracing one’s ethnicity and race and not just “mixing in”.

Hello everyone!

My name is Genesis Feliz and I’m not quite sure where I’m from exactly. That may sound weird but I never have an exact answer to the question; “Where are you from?” I feel as though that can be interpreted many ways-- and in my case, it is interpreted 11 different ways. My father is in the Navy and I have moved almost every 2 years (or less, in some cases!) to a different state. 

I was born in the Bronx, New York but I do not claim that to be my “home.” From New York I moved to Atlanta, Georgia to Norfolk, Virginia to Pax River, Maryland to Seattle, Washington to Chesapeake, Virginia to Ceiba, Puerto Rico to Boston, Massachusetts to Jacksonville, Florida to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and finally, Hatboro, Pennsylvania. The place that I actually lived in for more than 2 years was Jacksonville, Florida and then Hatboro, Pennsylvania (for all 4 years of high school.) I like to claim Florida as my “home” because all of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. live there. My father and brother also live in Tampa, Florida (my dad works at the MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa) so for me, home is in Florida.