My name is Brittany, and I hate when people call me cute. I am seventeen years old, and sometimes I feel much older, and sometimes I feel much younger, so who knows how old I really am. I live in Chapel Hill, which according to the news is a very liberal town, although I have met many people who are not necessarily "liberal". I was born in Frederick, Maryland, which is very small and isolated, and compared to Chapel Hill, everything in Frederick is far apart, separated by lots of fields and highways.
      I first started learning Japanese because I liked manga…But now I'm not as interested in manga as much as I am in Japanese language and culture in general. With the help of an amazing Sensei, I have learned so much over the past three years, even though Japanese has been quite a difficult language to learn. Our Sensei encouraged me to continue taking Japanese even when I thought I wanted to take a different language, and I am very happy that she did.
      Japanese is one of my favorite classes. My other favorite class is Technical Theatre. It is a class where I learn about diverse things like stage lighting, and building and painting sets for plays, as well as using tools like screwdrivers, drills, and saws. I've even been involved in two of my school's plays this year. I have no interest in acting, so to me it is the most exciting experience to work backstage on a theatrical production. Sometimes I think I would like to have a career in theater.
      Still, I have no idea what I want to do in my future, because I have so many interests. For example, along with Japanese and theater, I'm interested in social and political activism. There are a lot of things that are important to me, but I tend to be very quiet when it comes to voicing my opinions, so it helps to have a way to express myself. One way I do that is through a club called Scene and Heard. In Scene and Heard, we make giant puppets that are up to nine or ten feet tall, and put on puppet shows. Most of our shows are about politics or modern society or the Earth and environmental problems. It's a great way for me to express my opinions, because I can also apply theater and other things I am interested in. I also love literature, especially poetry. I love to write my own poems, but most of the time I don't think they are any good. I've filled a whole notebook with poetry over the past year. Sometimes I imagine that it would be nice to publish some of my writing in a book…
      But I have so many more interests! I am vegetarian, and I love to cook, especially Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. I make a lot of jewelry during my free time, and I've been thinking about sending some of my jewelry to stores to sell it, so that I can make some extra money. I also enjoy photography, and I like to use my father's old camera with some black and white film to take pictures. I took a photography class last year, and learned how to develop my own photographs, which was very exciting. At night I like to make up my own dances, especially to African drumming, but I have to be careful, because I don't want to wake anyone. Music is important to me as well. I have been playing the flute since I was ten years old, and now I can also play the Irish tin whistle. Not only that, I love history and genealogy, because I feel that if I know where my ancestors came from, I will know more about myself. You see? So many interests! Sometimes, there is just not enough time in one day!