DN@NDOVER
Our DN@nalysts
Angelreana
Hi everyone! My name is Angelreana, and I'm an upper (11th grader) from Rolla, Missouri. I've really struggled with my identity throughout my life, albeit in different ways at different periods of time. Growing up in a small, homogenous town in the midwest, I was quite naive in many ways. However, when I started attending Phillips Academy, I was exposed to the diversity and myriad of opinions, cultures, and beliefs that the world has to offer. Attending Andover as half-Chinese, half-Korean has not been easy, though. I constantly feel like an outsider at both Korean BBQs and Chinese New Year dinners at school. But this struggle of acceptance motivates me to constantly be kind towards everyone. Our world could always use a little more love.
Through DN@ndover, I hope to see if I am truly 50% Korean, 50% Chinese, or if there are other ethnicities that are included in my genetic makeup. I also hope to make DN@ndover meetings safe and inclusive spaces for our DN@nalysts to share everything and anything if they so choose.
Outside of DN@ndover, I love playing the flute and piano, writing poetry, swimming, reading a good Haruki Murakami book, and having long conversations over a meal.
Ioanna
My name is Ioanna and I am an 11th grader from Thessaloniki, Greece. I am particularly interested in science and my hobbies include photography, making videos, reading, travelling, and learning languages. I have lived in Greece my entire life, but now I attend a boarding school in the United States. My parents are both Greek and I have no knowledge of any family members residing in different places in the world. Coming from a more conservative and ethnically homogenous country, through this project I hope to find if my ancestry will affect my feelings towards my ethnicity as well as how I am seen by others. I look forward to hearing about the other participants’ experiences too!
Jack
My name is Jack and I am an Upper from Bethel, ME. I’m a member of the cross-country, wrestling, and track teams on campus, and I enjoy reading and listening to music in my free time. Throughout the past few years, I have developed somewhat of a passion for researching my family history. I have worked on creating a family tree, digitizing old family photos, and cataloging family stories. Throughout this process, I hope to learn more about my heritage and hopefully fill in some of the gaps in my family’s story.
Jess
I’m Jess, a senior from Andover, MA. I love to run, bike, and travel--pretty much anything that involves adventures, exploring new places, and meeting people. I’m a Pisces, pescatarian, and my Myers-Briggs personality type dabbles between an ESTJ and an ENTJ. In my spare time, I like to find the music scores to my favorite Pixar movies (Up, Ratatouille, the Incredibles, etc.) and play them on the flute.
My parents are both Chinese, although we’ve never really discussed my family’s ancestry. I’m doing DN@ndover to delve into parts of my personality identity and family tree in ways I never had before. The concept of origins and the genetic composition of a person has always fascinated me, as I’ve often wondered about the physical and social differences between cultures. Through DN@ndover, I can’t wait to explore my ethnicity, connect with my familial heritage, and learn about others’ stories as well!
Laura
I am Laura, 10th grader from Andover, Massachusetts. My passions include theater, reading, drawing cartoon stuffed animals, languages, scrabble, and answering questions without actually answering them. I am less passionate about (in fact, I quite dislike) bees, horror movies, eggplant and running long distances. Though I was born in the US (Pittsburgh Pennsylvania), and have lived here my whole life, my family is pretty scattered across the world, and my family and I enjoy travelling the world to see them. My interest in this project comes slightly from a wish to specify this scattered-seeming heritage. Also, I am fascinated by ideas of perception versus reality, and want to observe how our own and others’ perceptions of ourselves change depending on how much we know about our ancestry.
Mathis
Hi, my name is Mathis, and I'm a new Lower from France. I have currently been living in Tokyo, Japan for the past three years but I have lived in Belgium and Singapore, too. I love skiing (kind of have to because I am from the French Alps) and I do water polo, basketball, and tennis. My father’s side is from the French-Alps (near Germany and Switzerland, consequently my last name is Weber) and my mother is from Corsica (an island which used to be Italian, hence her last name is Biancarelli). I feel that the DN@NDOVER experience will be really interesting as I will be able to learn new things from where I originate from; maybe I am not from where I thought I would be. I hope to gain some new knowledge about myself and share it with my family to solidify our roots. Plus, I have always wanted to learn about what’s “INSIDE MY DNA”- Kendrick Lamar.
Taryn
My name is Taryn, and I am a senior from Lawrenceville, Georgia, though I was originally born in Queens, New York. My dad was born on the island of Dominica in Roseau, and my mom is from Georgetown, Guyana; they immigrated here in the 70s and 80s. My hobbies include playing the piano and cello, taking private lessons, reading contemporary non-fiction and reading and writing poetry, art, and listening to baroque classical music and cloud rap. I was interested in DN@andover because I had difficulty tracing my relatives past my great grandparents and determining the specifics of my ancestry, and I also wanted to have the fun experience of using this project as a platform to tell the story of my family’s unique background. I am looking forward to sharing my results, and also learning about the diversity of other students within our group!
Tony
My name is Anthony, better known as Tony, and I am a ninth-grader from Los Angeles, California. In my free time, I enjoy reading, drawing, listening to music, and writing. Some things I don’t enjoy is public speaking, and not understanding, whether it be in class or another person. I grew up in East Los Angeles my entire life, but my parents are not from Los Angeles. My mother is from Guadalajara, and my father is from Michoacán. My interest in DN@ndover is to really put myself out there to finally get over my fear of public speaking, and to get more involved in the Phillips Academy community. Throughout this process, I hope to learn more about my heritage and how that has affected me today.
Lin
I am Lin, and I am an 11th grader from Beijing, China. A couple of things about me that you should know:
I have a cat and a dog. They are super cute!
I love to read, bake, and bike in my free time.
I am not very athletic (in fact, not at all), but I like doing sports for fun!
My family, my faith, and my friends are some of the most cherished things in my life.
The picture on the right is NOT me. It's an adorable pine marten!
Okay, so judging from what I just wrote, you might think that I am just your typical, kind of introvert teenage girl, right?
As much as I want to convince you of how special I am, frankly, 99% of me is exactly the same as the rest of the world (DNA-wise). So I can’t boast.
Hey, but it’s the one percent that makes me different, and DN@ndover is all about celebrating our commonality and uniqueness!
Have fun exploring our journey!
