Drew Michael Brennan English Composition Dr. Goodheart Who Am I? My name is Drew Michael Brennan.

I am the son of Deborah Brennan, and Leo Brennan. Answering the question of, Who am I? has always been a struggle for me. In junior year of high school I would ask myself this question and frequently grow frustrated and confused because I would never know what to say. I would wonder who it was who had the authority to bestow my identity. Was it my parents, God Himself, my friends, or was it me? I now know that having been made in the image of God my identity is found in Him. With that said, I will also say during my freshman year of college I was blessed to have a revelation about identity that would help to calm my anxiety about not fully knowing this crucial piece of information about myself. The revelation was; I am 18 years old. I have a whole life ahead of me to live. I will find out who I am as I live every day. What I know now about myself is that I am a musician. It is music that moves me to the point of tears. Not many other things in life can move me like music does. When I am listening to music it is like I can forget all the issues both in my heart and in the world and enjoy life. To create music like that for people, whether it is through composition, or performance is quite humbling. I am an educator. Ever since I was young I always had a passion to teach. I deeply enjoy being there when someone has that moment of revelation. The moment when everything makes sense and it looks like a burden has just lifted off their shoulders. It is an awesome thing to see. I remember last semester I had the opportunity to help someone out with a song there were struggling with. The song had a lot of runs on an Ah vowel. This persons technical struggle was aspirating her Ahs. So we began

putting constants before the vowel and she had a break through. It looked like she had just won the Olympics. It was an incredible moment for me. It confirmed to me my calling as a teacher. One of the biggest parts of my identity is being a Christian. If it werent for Jesus I have no idea where I would be right now. He took my life and made it new, and gave me direction and a sense of being. It was Him who preserved me in the early trials of my life before I even knew what was going on. For me Christianity is more than a religion. It is a relationship between my savior and me. It is through this relationship that I became acquainted with who I am. What I called weak, He called strong, what I called disgusting He called beautiful. Most of all what I called condemned, He called redeemed. The biggest thing I am learning my freshman year of college is how to be myself. I have been blessed with someone who I consider to be one of the greatest human beings I have ever had the honor to come in contact with. She has taught me more than I can even say. She has taught me that I do not need to put on a show for people. That who I am is good enough, and you dont need everyone to like you. This is a lesson I am still learning, but having this friend, my best friend, is helping me more than I can say. For now, that is all I know of myself. With age, and maturity I will grow. I will grow in my capacity to love, in wisdom, and in knowledge of others. I have been blessed to know people who have faithfully guided me through times of confusion. With everyday I will learn something new, and I will learn something about me.