"Where are you from?" In this special bonus episode, students from the Columbus Metro Early College Middle School (6-8th grade) answer this question as a part of their January-term project. With the idea that "Where are you from" means so much more than what is your family background, students take the time to tell us about what shaped them as who they are today, including: stories of their parents' home countries; ancestral stories shared by family members; what it means to move; different food traditions within their families; and the influence of art, games and reading. We are excited to share their stories as a part of our podcast, and hope that you enjoy them too. An index of topics is listed below:

SECTION 1: "Home" (4:33)

Mariah (4:43): Family trips to Maryland

Saleh and Omar (6:24): "The Horn of Africa," Somalian history and language

Pradnya (12:00): "The World Inside Ohm", Hinduism and Yoga

Marguerite (15:23): "Mobile Home" What it means to move

Jillian (17:24): European Roots from Family tales

Holden (19:15): "Zoomin' As A Human", Family traditions and cycling

SECTION 2: "Food" (20:51)

Paolo and Graham (20:57): "The Meals that Made Us", Food traditions from Germany and Poland (plus Pizza!)

Austen (24:48): Snacking and friendship

Oumar (26:16): Influence of Dad's African culture

SECTION 3: "Hobbies" (29:42)

Jacob (29:50): Dungeons and Dragons, and creativity

Loic (32:31): "Comic Origin: Batman" The history of Batman

Ali (33:45): Life lessons and impact of Anime

Isra (37:47): Reading and Harry Potter

Iza (40:04): Art and reading books

Zaiden (42:59): Art and culture

CONCLUSION (44:19)