Topic 0 - Introduction
Hi, my name is Molly.
Except, Molly isn't my real name. I know it's not a great way to start out (lying straight to your face) but then, I don't know any other way to go about this topic. I don't go by my real name, neither in real life nor online. I really have nothing against my real name; it's quite pretty and Irish and I think more suitable for the serious adult I hope to become than Molly is. The decision was out of my hands, though, as is the way with names in the first place. Rarely do we honestly get a say in what we are called. It was something my parents instituted at birth (which begs the question: why not just go ahead and put 'Molly' on that birth certificate? This inquiring mind has always wanted to know).
I am often frustrated with having two names. Molly is not a clear nickname for my legal name, not in the way that Sam would be short for Samantha or Beth for Elizabeth. It only shares a first letter. It confuses people, and the bank, and the US government (when I mistakenly sign the wrong name).
But, I identify as a Molly, having lived 20 years with that name. Sure, there have been variations and further nicknames derived from friendship as I have grown (Mollster, Molls, Don, Dona de la Vega, Moony, Tuna, Tunette, etc). Some hold personal importance to me, but I think in some cases nicknames hold more significance to the person bestowing the name, not receiving it.
I have been thinking a lot about my name and how it affects my personal identity lately, partly because of a recent incident at school. I am taking two classes with a fairly prestigious professor at my college this semester, and am thus intimidated by him. At school, I am registered by my legal name, and usually make it a point to tell professors I go by Molly when they take roll on day one. To make a longer story short, I was too timid to correct him when he called role, and am, for the first time in my life, going by my real name in those classes. It startled me the other day when I was approached by a classmate in the library and she addressed me by a name that I am unfamiliar responding to.
I don't know what this means about my future, if I'll slowly start to introduce myself with my real name or not. I suppose I could have made the change when I started college, but I really hadn't considered it until now.
I like Molly, but I am growing into my real name too. Maybe it is okay to have two names, for use in different occasions. Getting to know me is more than learning my name, anyway.
Except, Molly isn't my real name. I know it's not a great way to start out (lying straight to your face) but then, I don't know any other way to go about this topic. I don't go by my real name, neither in real life nor online. I really have nothing against my real name; it's quite pretty and Irish and I think more suitable for the serious adult I hope to become than Molly is. The decision was out of my hands, though, as is the way with names in the first place. Rarely do we honestly get a say in what we are called. It was something my parents instituted at birth (which begs the question: why not just go ahead and put 'Molly' on that birth certificate? This inquiring mind has always wanted to know).
I am often frustrated with having two names. Molly is not a clear nickname for my legal name, not in the way that Sam would be short for Samantha or Beth for Elizabeth. It only shares a first letter. It confuses people, and the bank, and the US government (when I mistakenly sign the wrong name).
But, I identify as a Molly, having lived 20 years with that name. Sure, there have been variations and further nicknames derived from friendship as I have grown (Mollster, Molls, Don, Dona de la Vega, Moony, Tuna, Tunette, etc). Some hold personal importance to me, but I think in some cases nicknames hold more significance to the person bestowing the name, not receiving it.
I have been thinking a lot about my name and how it affects my personal identity lately, partly because of a recent incident at school. I am taking two classes with a fairly prestigious professor at my college this semester, and am thus intimidated by him. At school, I am registered by my legal name, and usually make it a point to tell professors I go by Molly when they take roll on day one. To make a longer story short, I was too timid to correct him when he called role, and am, for the first time in my life, going by my real name in those classes. It startled me the other day when I was approached by a classmate in the library and she addressed me by a name that I am unfamiliar responding to.
I don't know what this means about my future, if I'll slowly start to introduce myself with my real name or not. I suppose I could have made the change when I started college, but I really hadn't considered it until now.
I like Molly, but I am growing into my real name too. Maybe it is okay to have two names, for use in different occasions. Getting to know me is more than learning my name, anyway.