Who am I?

It just occurred to me that I have spent a lot of time and space venting about English class. Well, I'm about to do it again.

I am supposed to be writing a paper answering the question 'Who am I?'. Simple, right? Not really. What, exactly, defines who I am? My name? Family? Occupation? Personality? All of these things contribute to who I am, but they are only a small part of it. My name is my identity and besides, names change. My actual self doesn't. Family, too, evolves as one lives and occupations change constantly. Personality is a better description, but is still only the persona I present to the public; it's not who I really am. To be honest, I don't think many people know who they are.

It's easy to define oneself by name and job; it's much more difficult to figure out what kind of person one is. I, for one, am a mass of contradictions. When a friend is in trouble I listen sympathetically while I mentally wonder what he/she was thinking in the first place. I love little kids but don't want my own; I live on a ranch but hate animals. In short, I am a paradox. How can I write a paper on who I am when I am unsure of it, myself?

Maybe I'll see my English teacher at my ten-year class reunion and be able to walk up to her with a smile and cheerfully say, "Do you remember me? I know who I am now!" More realistically, I'd have to say, "Remember me? I'm the one who harassed you 24/7!" How could she forget?