Interviewer Narrative

            My full name is Katherine Ann Lynskey, but most of my friends call me “Kiki”.  I was named “Ann” for my mother’s mother and “Katherine” after the (non-existent) saint, which was also her suggestion.  My last name is Irish and my father’s people are originally from Danville, Virginia.  My mom is a 6^th generation Washingtonian.  I have one brother who is three years younger named Taylor.

            I was born in Warrenton, Virginia and lived in that county my whole life.  I went to school at the same middle school as my parents did.  Fauquier County is in a period of transition as more developers create housing for commuters and more small farmers are forced to sell up.  Living in a mainly rural environment has greatly affected the way I am.  I feel as though I understand the plight of farmers and the impact of the disappearance of rural America.  My county fights bitterly over every new school, but are seemly powerless or blind to the fact that most of the overcrowding comes from the developments that are politicos are so keen to move into our county.  One problem with coming from such a rural place is that I was not exposed to a great deal of diversity, for example I was one of the few democrats in my classes in high school.  This insulated childhood has caused me to be afraid of groups of minorities and racist in small ways.

            My parents were not very religious while I was growing up, but my Mom’s mother was and she was the one who watched me.  Mommom has been legally blind since before I was born.  She has a genetic disease called retinitis pigmentosa, which strangely enough was not passed to any of her 11 children.  While I was a child the entire family would gather for the each holiday: Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving at her house, which we called “The Farm.”  She cared for three of my great-grandparents until their deaths.  One of my great-grandparents lived until she was 92 and died when I was in 3^rd grade so I remember her living at the farm pretty well.  She babysat me and my cousins every summer and snow day.  When I was 12 Mommom went to California on a plane, by herself to get a trained guide dog.  She had a wonderful time and has returned since to get another guide dog when her first died.  Mommom was my confirmation sponsor when I was confirmed in the Catholic faith.  She was the strongest woman I knew and I would be proud to be compared to her.

            I had the obligatory Middle School angst.  I became very defensive at this point in my life because I expected people to attack my views, ideas, and style.  I coped by reading instead of interacting and becoming deeply involved in my religion.  When I was thirteen I wanted to be a nun or priest more than anything in the world.  I was deeply religious and felt that even other types of Christians need to be converted.  My mother was confirmed in the Catholic faith after I was and she picked me to be her sponsor to vouch for her faith.  

            I did little socializing in high school, mostly I participated in marching band.  It was a huge close knit group of people, but some of us didn’t like each other. We would put up with each other to make the show a success.  Like any group there were dedicated couples, loose women, and the snobby kids and no, it was nothing like sex education.  Marching band is really made up of people who are in it to advance their careers and people in it to have fun; I was one of the latter.  My time in high school was marked by a book banning, mold poisoning, the new principal being fired, our new band director being fired, and the new superintendent quitting.

            The summer after I turned 17, I left for an overnight camp designed to give “gifted” high school students a leg up in the sciences.  At the camp I came to the realization that I would meet many people in my life and I no longer had to be attached to my boyfriend.  I found people who liked me for me and cut off my long hair.  After returning home from the camp I had a period of depression where I seriously questioned my attachment to my religion.  A friend from camp helped me through it, and we started dating not long after, he was a great help in my last year of high school and kept me relatively sane.  I stopped believing in my religion around this time, deciding that a commitment to living as best as I could would suffice until I found another religion that I believed in and not regretting what I saw as the best course of action  I also realized that I was bisexual and came out to a few close friends.

            Coming to Hollins was intensely scary for me and I had another fit of depression right before moving in.  The first friends I made lived on the Otaku Hall, so it was natural for me to move onto the hall.  My hobbies expanded from reading science fiction and fantasy books to watching anime and learning about Japanese culture.  One thing about them that startled me was that they were okay with me and wanted me around.  They convinced me to go to my very first convention and even to dress as a character from an anime for it.  At the convention people were happy to see my character, friendly, and just generally easy to get along with.  I realized that the people I had always wanted to find were this kind, nerdy fans that encouraged others in the pursuit of similar interests.  After the convention I felt more comfortable with the girls on the Otaku Hall, and even after one episode of drama every semester still live with them.  Living with them made me bold enough to come out to my parents.

            Last semester was my semester abroad which, because it was last semester, I still haven’t fully understood the ramifications of.  I was depressed a good bit of the time, drank too much alcohol, and committed acts of questionable morality.  I realized that I can operate very independently as long as I have a fall back support system.  I was glad I got to travel, but it is a relief to be back.  My friends cannot see that I learned anything in London except how to text message, but I think that’s only because I have my place at Hollins that I fit and don’t need any of the skills I acquired in London.  I think I learned many lessons about how to be practical and how often I have to be practical. 

            At the beginning of this semester Mommom died unexpectedly.  She died within twelve hours of my paternal step-grandfather, who had had cancer for ten years.  While I had made my peace with his death, her death was such a shock that I spent a week walking around numb to the world.  It still chokes me up to think of her.  I hope she would be proud of me and of this project.