What's in a name?

It's incredible how much we think we know, and how much we really know. The knowledge gap hinders our #SelfAwareness and our #EmotionalIQ, two of the HC's we went over today.

---

HC stands for Habits of Mind and Foundational Concepts. At Minerva, HCs are used to encompass broad, important topics through a short, memorable word or two. The goal of their curriculum is not to teach a bunch of information, but rather to teach a bunch of skills that you can use to learn a bunch of information by yourself.

In today's class, we went over #SelfAwareness and #EmotionalIQ, which were later supplemented by a name activity.

After all the boring information giving was finished, they asked us to take our name, find out its meaning, and then write some sort of poetry or prose on it.

Many people wrote many different things, and I have to say, many of them were quite impressive. I hope there is some slam poetry group that forms or something. Or maybe I'll start one who knows?

Anyway. I thought I'd share my poems. Here they are:

Ancestral pieces

Etched into posterity

The art that endures

You sign pieces of artwork, and later people can imitate your art but never have the same signature. In the same way, I think that it's interesting that we are so similar to our parents, and in so many cultures, receive similar names that may not be the exact same. My middle name is Veena, which comes from my paternal grandmother’s name Saraswathi. A veena is the instrument that Goddess Saraswathi carries.

Breathing artifacts

Continuing tradition

With their bated breaths

A name may represent who you are, but it may also indicate who you want to become. In passing on your name to your child, I think you also pass on some of your hopes, dreams, and expectations to your posterity. You pass on the value of your name and wait to see it blossom throughout the lives of your children. My first name, Amulya, means “priceless,” which I’m sure my mother passed onto me, and I hope to pass on to my children.

Actually Idriss, a kid from my breakout group, loved my poems so much that he actually offered me as tribute to go present my poem to the whole grade. So along with like five-ish other people, I spoke about my poem and my ideas.

And it was nice- to be heard, to be understood, but most of all, to be at home.