Even if you are from the same neighborhood as someone else, you might still be coming from different places. Where you are from is a complicated question and it elicits complicated, but interesting and thought-provoking responses. We’ve shared some of those responses below.

Chase Blackwell | Professional Snowboarder

I’m from Longmont CO, from a young age I always knew I wanted to be in the mountains. Just by looking at them everyday from the front range I thought how can I spend the most time possible up there. Luckily for me Eldora is only about 50mins from my house so I got to ride there a lot as a kid. Then I just fell in love with progressing at snowboarding to the point of going after a professional career. Read more>>

Borris Powell | FAshion Artist

I was raised in the North part of Alabama. I grew up in The Projects and Subsidized Housing, raised by a single mom. I feel as if I have been fighting an uphill battle from the beginning. What that has done for me is taught me to have thick skin, while giving me a life time of endurance and fight to push on. Read more>>

Shaina Summerville | Actor & Audiobook Narrator

I grew up in Rolling Meadows, Illinois–a northwest suburb of Chicago. From the time I was about a week old, I spent most of my time at my parents’ violin shop. So I grew up immersed in the arts and my parents were (and are) incredibly supportive of my endeavors–artistic and otherwise. They exposed me to the arts at a young age, and I grew up appreciating them. Read more>>

Hillary Leftwich | Writer, teacher, editor

I’m from Colorado Springs and this plays an important role in who I am today. It’s mainly military and Christian-dominated city and can be very unforgiving in both aspects to women and the LGBTQ communities. The themes and topics I mainly write about include women’s bodies and Christianity extremism, both of which have become, with ROE V WADE being overturned, much more prominent now. How the world is impacted and the people being hurt the most play an important role in who I am and how I conduct myself as a human interacting with others. Read more>>

Jay Halsey | Humanitarian, Photographer, Writer

I was born and lived in or around Dayton, Ohio for the first 28 years of my life until I moved to Colorado 16 years ago. My mom raised my sister and me mostly single-handedly after she divorced our stepdad early in my life, and times were not always easy or smooth. In a lot of ways, Dayton was the quintessential factory/blue-collar town (mostly GM and Delco plants), and the families working at these plants lived solid and comfortable middle-class lives. Read more>>

Brian and Tammy Williams | Fitness Instructors & Good Humans

Tammy and I grew up in Michigan. We were high school sweethearts and started ‘dating’ at the ages of 15 and 16. We have been together for 31 years w/ 26 of those being married. We grew up playing sports for as long as we can remember. We were driven to give our best no matter how much adversity we faced. Read more>>