Hello everyone! My name is Shefali. I am 25 years old and I am going to be a senior in the fall. I am a transfer student from Los Angeles.
I was born in India, and adopted by Indian parents at 4 months old. My ancestry has always been a mystery to me, and recently I’ve been trying to explore my lineage (with little success). I took an ancestryDNA test and received results that listed me as 92% South Asian, and the rest as Indonesian (they included Melanesian in this description). I am a biological anthropology major, so I took a Genetics class in which I got to assess my own DNA myself, and found similar results.
My knowledge of the Pacific is limited, however, I’d love to learn more about this area since I have heard so little about it. I am taking this course to fulfill my practicum requirement, but also to gain knowledge in library science. I have a sweet dog named Donnie. My hobbies include playing guitar and drums, going on motorcycle rides with my dad, writing music, reading Harry Potter too many times to count, and skating poorly. I have included a photo of my dad and I, my sweet dog Donnie, and the crib at the orphanage in New Delhi where my birth mother dropped me off at. There is a sensor on the crib that alerts the personnel inside the orphanage that a baby has been dropped off. It’s interesting for me to think about how I’ve gotten here.
Thank you for sharing your story, Shefali. I’m super excited to hear your perspective in class. Which is your favorite of the Harry Potter books? I’m pretty partial to Half-Blood Prince myself. Oh, and your dog is adorable and your dad seems so awesome!
What a journey! And how awesome it must have been to test your own DNA?! I’m impressed in so many ways. If I could test DNA, I think I would it myself. I don’t trust these large for-profit databanks having my DNA. I’m not some conspiracy theorist by any stretch of the imagination, I just think that with the US being so behind in cyber-protection, I hate to think of these companies being hacked and having control of such personal data. ok, maybe that is a little conspiracy theorist, lol.
Hi Shefali, thank you so much for sharing about your background. It will be interesting to see how this influences your analysis. If you want to bring bioanthropology into our discussion (if it seems appropriate) feel free to do so! My background is mostly in cultural and linguistic anthropology, but there have been some interesting biological and archaeological anthropology examinations of the Pacific as well! I am not an expert on these, but if it piques your interest that could be part of the research for your next blog post or included in your final analysis. Also, can you categorize this as Personal Biography? Thanks, Rachel