You sneak a surreptitious glance at your watch and realize that you’ve already been in this interview for half an hour. That’s a good thing, right? When your eyes leave your watch to reconnect with the interviewer’s, she gives a practiced smile and says “One last question.”
You hold your breath and hope she’s not going to ask what your self-defined strengths and weaknesses are because everyone knows that’s a loaded question. Instead she asks “What three words would you use to describe yourself?”
First reaction: Why is it always three? Why can’t it be five words for describing yourself? Why not one?
Second reaction: Oh, no. What am I going to say? This is almost as bad as the strengths and weaknesses question.
Third reaction: Just go with responsible. That’s always a good one. Maybe creative too–what kind of job is this again? Okay good; that’s two. For the last one…
You tap your lip as you think but pull it away and clasp your hands together on your lap when you realize she’ll probably perceive the gesture as a manifestation of nerves. Or worse, as your tell (creative might be a stretch but you really are responsible…in your own way…that’s not a lie, right?).
Suddenly, it comes to you; the perfect answer has been there all along–literally.
You tell her your name.
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Who would you be without your name? Who would I be without mine?
When I was a kid my parents would describe a person to me and I would usually be able to come up with a name. I was right too, most of the time at least. I guess names are just something I’ve always been good at remembering; it’s a side effect of the many moves.
Tangentially, I’ve now lived in more countries than my mother. Quite a feat, I know.
That minor digression aside, I really do believe that a person’s name is an important aspect of his or her identity, even though said name is generally not self-appointed. This is why your name can be used as a clever addition to the above three word self-description exercise.
Anything can be argued as long as the argument’s support is valid and logical, even if the argument itself is not. Apply this thinking to the interview situation and what do you get? A job.
Actually, don’t quote me on that. Seriously, please don’t. My point is that everyone has a name but it’s the meaning you attribute to it that makes your name important. Here, I’ll give you an example.
My name means “safe harbor.” Does that make me one? Not necessarily.
I was named after one of my parents’ favorite places. Does that make me their favorite? I wish.
My middle name is arbitrary. Does that mean I am too? Of course not.
So in what way can my name be used to define me? When people ask my mom about the artist of the pieces she hangs in her office, they aren’t told to look for a Concordia graduate or an NYU student. They’re given my name.
When someone wants to know who they should look for if they’re interested in the on-campus Bible study, they aren’t told to find a girl in skirts with River Song hair the color of On Golden Pond. They’re given my name.
When my sisters are asked about their jie-jie who’s off at university, they don’t say they miss the instigator or 1/3 of the whole. They say they miss me; and they say my name.
That’s what I mean when I say your name can define you. Your actions and your words, your accomplishments and your mistakes, everything about you that makes up who you are is encompassed in your name. If your name is mentioned there are pictures and memories of you that inevitably appear, even if you aren’t physically present.
In a way, yes this is a never-ending cycle. You are your name because it’s the first thing you’re given after birth, and then you live your life and your actions are attributed to your name. So you are who you are. Basically.
And your name is who you are too. Less basic, but still true.
Response time! I’ve never before actively asked for responses to these because it never occurred to me that people might be interested enough in my rambled musings to actually comment on them. That changes now. What do you think comes to mind when people think your name?
**Title: “Remember the Name (Clean Version)” by Fort Minor**
northofthehouse 