Volume CXXXIII, Number 6 October 19, 2001 f

So, what's in a name anyways?
ACADIA SENESE

Our parents give us so much. Some things are influential, and others supportive. Many of those things shape who we become as young adults. Yet, there is only one thing that is definitive: our name. From the moments our parents decide upon a name, it becomes the single most defining characteristic about ourselves. It is the first, and sometimes the only, impression that strangers receive, and for countless records and files, it is the only thing that represents us. Names harbor a significance that we all readily acknowledge; yet it takes someone a long time to realize just what their name means to them.

It is this meaning that I have spent so very long trying to discover. It wasn't until I came to school here at Bowdoin and started spending time in Acadia National Park that the significance of my name started to unravel. I wasn't named after the Park, and really, it was only a coincidence that I chose to come to a school so close to the Park of the same appellation. Of course, as soon as I arrived on campus, any introduction I made of myself was inevitably followed by "like the Park?" To supersede these comments, I started introducing myself as "Acadia Like the Park," but soon realized the silliness of it all. I changed my mind when someone replied, "Hi. I'm Noah. Like the Arc."

The jokes were abundant, and the smiles plentiful. And then someone asked me if I had a sister named Yellowstone. I began to despise going to school in Maine; after all, before college most people never even questioned my name other than asking me to repeat it.

Inevitably the questions soon followed as to what I was named after, what my name actually meant. It was here that I began to confront the seeming opposing explanations to the roots of my name. I always had my parent's explanation: they were flipping through a book, looking for names, when they saw Acadia. In the book they were reading, it was an American Indian word that meant bountiful. I still stand by this explanation, even though I have read conflicting origins of the name. From what I have gathered, the name Acadia has two possible origins, one of which is American Indian (from the Mi'kmaq word "cady"), and the other which is French (from the word "l'Acadie" - initially from the Greek Arcadia).

I discovered something this past weekend, however, that I had not realized. The origin of the name is not what is significant. It is the meaning of the name, and the thoughts with which it connects you that matters most. Spending time in Acadia National Park has truly allowed me to appreciate my name. Of course, my friends delight in the fact that they can go into a restaurant in Bar Harbor and order an "Acadia" and then ask me if I feel properly represented by two slices of white bread, a slice of turkey, lettuce, and tomato. But jokes aside, Acadia National Park is an amazing place. There is something magical, surreal, and breathtaking about the island that has captivated me since my first visit.

This weekend I found myself climbing up one of the mountains on Mount Desert Island, Precipice to be exact, in complete awe of the scenery around me. For those familiar with this hike, about halfway up the mountain there is a rock that juts out from the cliff. Horizontal, it defies the mountain, and begs passerby's to crawl out to its ledge. It's just large enough to lie flat, with arms dangling off, head over the edge, and nothing but breathtaking grandeur to support the view. It was poised on this ledge that the meaning of my name, and its significance to me, finally began to fall into place.

For the first time, my name connected me with thoughts and emotions beyond anything I could begin to describe. Acadia National Park is phenomenal - it's vast, grand, and inspiring. Moreover, it is magical, and it is this magic that I can now identify. My name represents something far greater than its six letters reveal and something far more complex than I could ever begin to relate. I'm honored to have my name, honored to be forever connected to a place so beautiful. But what I ultimately realized this weekend, is that I'm forever in debt to my parents. How you ever came up with a name so amazing, I'll never know. But find in this article my thanks.