So, I’m still on the job train, here. And for one particular job… they want to know what my favorite story is. Something funny that happened to me, a quirky family story, something I like to tell at parties. Okay, doesn’t sound too hard. Not at first. But I have been thinking about what story to tell since this summer. And I’ve got nothing. Except a problem with picking anything that’s my favorite.

I’m already an anxious person, I’ll expand on that some other time. But for now, I’ll explain that when people ask me my favorite… whether it be anything, I have a mini-anxiety attack. Particularly with things that I really care about. Please don’t ever ask me what my favorite song is… or my favorite musical… and definitely don’t ask me who’s my favorite actor/actress.

You see, I think the problem is, I don’t like labeling. I don’t like having an all-or-nothing favorite. Like with food… some days my favorite food is Italian. Some days it’s Mediterranean. With music… when I’m sad or depressed I like broadway music. When I do homework I like top 40. When I work out I like techno and when I’m chilling I like country. There are too many different situations and scenarios to just pick a blanket favorite!

But, okay. I understand the argument that I am, by self-definition a storyteller. So why can’t I just pick my best story? Because I don’t have a best story. Everything that makes me who I am is a story. Sure, there are quirky family parts. I’ve also done many funny things. One time, a tree frog jumped on my face and I couldn’t get it off. Another time, my grandma called my newsroom because she thought I discovered a cannonball hidden under University of Alabama’s campus. (That’s a long story.)

But the point is, it isn’t just one funny story that makes you who you are. I get that employers want to know that you’re able and willing to write and write well. Write with confidence and zeal and all the little parts of you that make you a reporter, a writer and dreamer. I’ll think of something, I normally do. But until then, my point is that I don’t want to worry too much about using one short, purposeful story as means of representing who I am as a human.