Mathis Post #1

I applied for DN@NDOVER and kind of forgot about it over the break. However, when I got back and saw it on a post-it note in my room it brought back the idea of possibly being able to be tested to know my ancestry. When I got chosen I was really happy because I never thought with the number of people that applied I would be chosen for the 14 spots. But I was and it felt awesome. I sent the requests for my parents and they were pretty happy but had a couple of questions about security. They thought it would be pretty skeptical if I tested for a medical exam because that is pretty scary and can literally haunt you your whole life. But, they were fine with the ancestry test as long as it would not hurt my chances for job opportunities and for college applications when I grow up, all about college!!!

I planned to take the test whenever I could, and I kind of waited for the last minute to be honest, until the Friday at like 2pm when we would send the tests back that very afternoon. It was pretty weird, every instruction was really clear and it seemed like that they made a million of these, well I mean they probably have. IT WAS A LOT OF SPIT! Well I mean it was more than I thought would be needed; it took me like five minutes. Afterwards, I kind of filled all of my profile things on there and it was pretty intense. They had like fifty questions on all of my medical life so I skipped all of them because they required a PhD from Harvard Medical School to decently understand. I put everything back in the box and prepared for it to send. It took like thirty minutes in all; I went back to my dorm and took a nap.

I have kind of been thinking of the tests but not really, midterms week was really challenging so I have not been able to research and think about them more. I still don’t really have a concrete idea of how they are able to go all the way to the DNA pairs to find my ancestry. Yet, I really want to actually know where I come from. I wonder if I will have any results where I come from the Middle East. My maternal grandmother is from Tunisia and my great grandmother is from Turkey so I should probably get some results from there right? Also, will I get any results from Germany because after all, my last name is Weber (pronounced [Veiberr]).

It is January 28 and I just received an email saying “We have received your test Mathis; we will send you a follow-up email when we have tested your sample!” That’s pretty exciting, I actually can’t wait to know what is up with me! I really want to know more about me, and I just really can’t wait. I don’t really know when they will send the actual results though so I guess I will just be waiting day and night. I am pretty anxious, I’m not really scared about the actual results but I am not really certain about the fact whether it will affect me or not when I actually know the result. I guess the only way to find out is to get the results back!

Almost Super Bowl, I can’t wait! Even though I am not from America, I love the idea of the Super Bowl because it brings people together and the Pats seem to always win. I can’t wait to experience it first hand. But whatever, it will be awesome to get the results back. I am just a little bit anxious as usual. I wonder how their idea of this DNA stuff first came on, who were they inspired by? Those people must be really smart to think of all the logistics and science behind this entire project. I don’t think the results will affect me that much; but, they will certainly be interesting.