Optimists and pessimists, creatives and intellectuals. There are many ways to perceive the world around us. My mom and dad have shaped mine, and they are polar opposites. My dad is a hunting dog, intelligent and proud. My mom is a pug puppy, fun and loving. I am a mutt, an artist and an analytic. My dad looks like the science nerd that he is, and my mom smells like the soap she makes. The fusion of these two is what has created the war between my right and left brain.

My dad is a history and biology buff. My mom is a painter and a writer. I am a mix of both of these. My face screams my mom, but my mind screams my dad. I have no brothers or sisters. No one to steal my parents’ traits from me. Intellectually I am my dad, but I have my mom’s personality; and unfortunately her height.

I could break down everything about me and sort my traits into a t-chart of my mom or dad. But I’m not my mom, and I’m not my dad. I am my own person. I have my own perceptions, my own beliefs, and my own dreams. And one day these traits won’t be viewed as my mom’s or my dad’s, but as mine that I passed on. I am a mental mixture of my parents; a hunting dog and a pug puppy. And I am the mutt.