Who Am I?

This is about my name and the name of my blog. For about me see First Post.

I guess I'll start at the beginning. When I was born my parents named me Margaret, a classic, not-too-common but not-un-heard-of name. But apparently Margaret was too long and formal for a baby, so they decided to call me Meg. Meg was a great name, but every time I met someone new, he or she insisted on calling me Megan. Even family-friends who had known me my whole life called me Megan. Megan was not my name and I did not appreciate being called Megan, so in the third grade I decided I wanted people to call me Margaret. The transition was long and difficult, everyone wanted to continue to call me Meg, but I was not having it. Margaret was my full, legal name and the name I wished to be called.

For years I was Margaret; it was simple and easy, but when I started high school, at the height of my Beatles obsession, I discovered that there were many variant forms. I was going to a new school where no one would know me; it was the perfect time to recreate myself. So I decided to go by Rita, a short and spunky name that was also a "character" in a popular Beatles song, "Lovely Rita." Rita is also a common Spanish name, short for Margarita, and at the time I was very into the Spanish culture; it seemed like the perfect name. I told the administration at my new school that my preferred name was Rita, and started introducing myself as Rita. This annoyed many relatives, who had just caught on to Margaret, but I was a stubborn kid who insisted on being called Rita.

Now, as I begin to fill out college applications and other legal forms, I realize that going by a name other than my given name is difficult, especially when my nickname is not a very common nickname for Margaret. So I have decided to further annoy my relatives my going back to Rita when I start college. I am slowly making the transition back to Margaret. I hope to keep this blog up through college, which is why I decided to go by Margaret here. I decided to go with the blog name Meg Margaret Rita because my many names are a part of who I am, and also I couldn't think of anything else ;).