Today is Me@20 Day, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Association of Personal Historians (APH.) For twenty years, this wonderful organization has been connecting people to professionals like myself, in an effort to help record those precious life stories. Today we celebrate the efforts of the APH by sharing a few of our stories. Want to join in? Just answer a few of the questions below, include a photo if you can find one, and tag #APH20 – have fun!
Where I lived @20: I lived in Brunswick, Maine, as a sophomore at Bowdoin College, and then in Washington, D.C., studying public policy.
What I did @20: As a college student, I studied French and Women’s Studies. I was incredibly fortunate to have inspiring professors who challenged me to see the world through multiple lenses, and great friends who are still making me laugh.
What I dreamt @20: I was idealistic about making the world a more equal place. My journey has included work in public policy, advocacy, and education, and now as a personal historian, the heart of my work has always been to create a space for all voices to be heard.
My favorite song @20: I had a radio show on the campus radio station and developed pretty eclectic taste in music. I was probably playing a mix of Erasure, Indigo Girls, REM, and lots of obscure bands that we would get at the station.
What I wore @20: Wool sweaters, jeans, ex-boyfriends’ oxford shirts – as a boarding school kid and then a student at Bowdoin, my style was a mix of east-coast preppy meets casual practicality. My love affair with shoes had not yet begun!
Who I loved @20: My friends, my boyfriend at the time, and travel. The Berlin wall fell that year, and a month later I was living in Vienna and traveling to Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany – exploring beautiful places that had been closed off during my earlier years in Europe.
What made headlines when I was @20: The Loma Prieta earthquake hit when I was studying in Washington, and the idea of living in an earthquake state seemed so foreign to me as an East Coast girl. Little did I know that just a few years later, I would move to Berkeley for graduate school and fall in love with California.
Here’s to the APH and 20 more years of helping people share their stories! Follow other APH members as they share their stories of Me@20.