Humans of Falls Church will be a regular feature in every issue of The Jagwire this year. For each publication of the paper, we will be asking four Jaguars a question about themselves. This week’s question is “What is a moment that makes you who you are today?” Here are the responses:

“Last year in Leadership we were planning Kindness Week, and I’d never done anything like that before. I thought it was going to be kind of weird because we were planning to play games with people we had never talked to. I expected it to be awkward, but once it came around everyone was so excited for it and everyone was saying ‘hi’ to each other and there was such a big movement going on. Since then, I’ve had so much more respect for Leadership and what we’re able to accomplish together.”
– Micaela Gray (11)

“Something that makes me who I am today is being able to spend time with my friends. I feel really fortunate that I’m able to see them everyday at school, and even when I’m not at school I can still hang out with them on the weekends. Since I’m an only child, I’ve grown up being with my friends my whole life. They’re the ones I go to for advice or just to talk to about anything and everything with. They’re like my second family.”

– Sirisha Brahmandam (11)

“A moment that makes me who I am today is when I fundraised and helped out at an event for kids with cancer and their parents. All the kids at the event were so happy and didn’t show any negativity about anything going on in their lives. When I talked to them they openly discussed their conditions with no negativity because they all had really positive outlooks on life. It really humbled me and made me realize that I should be more grateful and appreciative for everything that I’m given in life because one day it could all be taken away. It also made me realize that I should be more positive because so many others have it worse than me. ”
– Jen Hoang (10)

“Something that makes me who I am today is something that happened when I was in 6th grade. I got in a bad accident where I fell off my penny board and scraped my chin up pretty bad. I had to wear a huge band aid for about 5 months and I was really embarrassed about it. I thought it was really ugly and disgusting. Everyone told me the scar would fade away over time. I still have the scar to this day. I honestly don’t mind it now, and it’s become part of who I am.”
– Anna Kim (9)