From College to Cubicle

“Where are you from?”

I hate that question. Responding to that question is only becoming more and more difficult. Yet I get asked that question almost daily. Do you want to know where I was born and raised? Where I live now? Where I went to school?

There are a variety of factors complicating my response to this seemingly easy question:

• I will probably always consider myself an Iowa girl at heart, and being proud of my home state I usually want to respond that I’m originally from Iowa (though few people really want to know that anymore).
• I live halfway between two cities. In suburbia. Do I say I’m from Chicago? It takes me about as long to get to Milwaukee as Chicago despite living in Chicagoland! I fly out of the Milwaukee airport sometimes and drive through there, but that’s the limit of my Milwaukee experience. You’re much more likely to find me in Chicago than Milwaukee, but the fact remains that I live halfway between the two.
• The easiest landmark to explain where I live is an amusement park. Unfortunately if this person just wanted the city they are all of the sudden starting to get my life story when I start to include local landmarks.
• I still hold Notre Dame close to my heart, yet when people ask where I’m from if I respond Iowa they usually just assume I went to school there. Nothing wrong with Iowa, but I am extremely loyal to my alma mater. If people are really curious about how I got to living/working where I do today I consider ND a huge part of that.
• I never know how much detail someone wants. If they want to know where I am originally from, they should ask that! If they want to know where I go to school, they should ask that! If they want to know where I live, they should ask that!