Originally posted 09 September 2011...

In my Script Writing class, I was asked to do two things I had never done before:

1. Describe myself as though I were a character in a play in only three words

2. Explain my backstory in a single sentence

With only precious seconds to think of my answers, I responded thusly:

1. Insightful, composed, super-nerd

2. Grandchild of immigrant grandparents who feels like she's lived half a dozen lifetimes

My professor found the last bit very interesting, about living half a dozen lifetimes. Asking me to explain, I talked about how, despite being one of the youngest in the class, I felt that my mental age was much older than my physical age. The professor agreed with this, saying that I had a very mature aura.

I'm going to insert a Bible quote here, not because I'm going to talk religion at all on this blog, but because it is an excellent quote for what I'm about to delve into: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young." -1 Timothy 4:12.

All my life, I have felt older than my age, assisted by the fact that I look fairly young for my age. And every few years, it feels like I transition into a new lifetime. From chapter to chapter in life, it's as though I become a new person, a new adult. All my old memories feel distant, like a nearly-forgotten dream, to the point where even my dreams begin to feel like distant memories. I transform from version to version, leaving behind everything except the lessons I've learned.

Now, I'm not talking those phases every child and adolescent goes through, from "I want to be a ballerina" to "I want to play the violin" to "I want to be a rock star." No, I mean deep down inside me where no one else can go, I change. My mentality, my understanding, my wisdom. Yes, wisdom. I have been informed many times that I am the wisest person someone knows, and yet I am only twenty years old. Only two decades of life, and yet it appears to others as though I have lived many lives already.

The best comparison I can make is to the Time Lord Doctor from the BBC show Doctor Who. Rather than dying, the Doctor's body regenerates, every cell transforming him into a new person. As the 10th regeneration said, "Some new man saunters away and I am dead." His memories stay with him through his centuries of life, and yet he becomes a new man with each regeneration. And each time, he is older than his body's appearance.

My challenge this week is to answer the first two questions of this post as creatively as you can and talk about them in the comments section below. What about you makes for an interesting read if you were a character in a play? Go on!