summer 2022

Who Am I?

Volume XIV, Number IV

What does it mean to know who you are? Is identity constant or does it evolve over time? Do we each have a purpose? KidSpirit contributors dig deep to examine questions that may take a lifetime to answer.

Cover artwork by Katherine Han, age 17

The Big Question

Can You Ever Truly Know Who You Are?

by Mac Fabens

When people say they “know who they are” instead of saying, “I am comfortable with my identity,” both the future and past are being neglected.

More Stories

Awesome Moments

Photo Flipping

by Jasmine Xu

Child running. Flip. Moving houses. New school year. Flip. Flip. Growing up and up and up . . .

Media

Exploring Love in Luca

by Natalie Tai

In a KidSpirit Media review, teen writer Natalie Tai gives her take on the animated Pixar film Luca and its themes of friendship, acceptance, and self-understanding.

Awesome Moments

My Beautiful Mistake

by Anna Lin

Awesome Moments

Kindness Defines Us

by Aditya Rao

Features

Internet Identity: Finding Ourselves in the Modern World

by Izzy Weitzman

Features

Hey Siri, What’s the “Coming-Of-Age” Genre?

by Sanvi Sirigineedi

Fiction

Three-Face

by Emilia Melville

Fiction

Me in the Future

by Patryk Karpowicz

Fiction

Skyline of Shanghai

by Lily Wang

Fiction

If We Were Free

by Adya Sarin

Fiction

Willow

by Miseng Kim

Helping Hands

Lost and Found

by Jovjin Zhu Bo

Helping Hands

Kindness: The Passport to a Happy World

by Siddhant Raj

Interfaith Connections

A Ukrainian Sense of Belonging

by Nikita Zinoviev

Interfaith Connections

I Have Honor

by Marium Ihsan

Media

The Midnight Library: For the Life We Live

by Taylor Merrett

Media

The Faculty of Wonder

by Nargis Kachrumathur

Poetry

Who Am I?
by Rhianna Obi

Who am I?
I’m me, myself, I —
such an easy question,
I am me.
But the more I think about it,
who am I truly?

I’m not a role model,
I’m not someone who wants to lead,
I’m someone who wants a quiet life.
I don’t want lots of responsibility,
I just want to live for me,
I just want to do stuff that I enjoy,
like watching cartoons or playing sports or maybe even reading some comics.
I’m not someone with high aspirations,
like becoming a millionaire and living in a three-story mansion.
I’m someone with reasonable ones,
like owning a car or renting a small house.

Click to read the whole poem...

Who Are We?by Miseng Kim

I Amby Minahil Laraib

The Different Parts of Meby Pahal Bhasin

I Am Humanby Oryna Bielikova

Wavesby Katherine Lamica

Am I the Bad Guy?by Nicole Zeng

My Shadowby Abigail Webster

Roleplayby Iman Monnoo

A Normal Human Beingby Aminah Miah

The Mirrorby Sriya Bandyopadhyay

The Never-Ending Danceby Jawad Maayah