Who do I think I am? AncestryDNA helped me figure that out. When it comes down to genealogy, I thought I knew who I was based on what my family told me over the years. My father’s side is German with possible Austrian while my mother’s is Irish and Slovakian.
Last May while attending the AARP Life @50+ event in Boston, I was introduced to the Ancestry.com people and their AncestryDNA kit. Basically, DNA is mailed in, analyzed and added to a database. If there are any matches, Ancestry.com lets you know and you have the ability to connect with that relative.
I was actually surprised by the results because as you can see by the analysis, German doesn’t rank high. In fact, it’s in the 4% “Trace Regions” segment. This process has also introduced me to a distant relative on my paternal grandmother’s side and I’ve been learning more about that side of the family. Now, I’m even more curious to really explore Europe.
As a result of going through this process, I was interviewed by a student researcher and it made me realize that what I’m sharing in my blog and through social media may be the only information my ancestors down the road will know about me. In fact, I feel social media influences my life so much that I do things in order to maintain expectations others have of me.
For instance, when in 2008 I was named a top 50 Travel Twitterer to Follow, I felt as though I needed to post more travel-related content. With this blog called “Solo Travel Girl,” there are expectations that I want to be alone which couldn’t be more further from reality.
Here’s a video I began in June 2014 and finished last night about the kit and my results. If the video doesn’t play view it on YouTube.
Have you taken the AncestryDNA test? If so, were you surprised by the results?
Related: Embracing My Family Heritage Through Ireland’s Food
One thought on “I Spit in a Vial All in the Name of Research for the AncestryDNA Test”
Comments are closed.