I am originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, but my parents moved to Indianapolis about 3 years ago. When I am at home, I enjoy spending time with my family. As a family, we all enjoy watching movies, trying new restaurants, and making each other laugh. My family consists of my parents, Brett and Laura, me, and my 15-year old brother, Seth. We are just your average American, white, married with two kids type of family. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “the majority of America’s 73.7 million children under age 18 live in families with two parents (69 percent)”. My family also resembles what Cohen refers to as the “breadwinner-homemaker family” (Cohen 17). This means that there is an employed father and a non-employed mother, and their children. My dad works for New York Life while my mom stays at home and takes care of us, cooks, and cleans. She has been a stay-at-home mom for as long as I can remember. In addition to my family, we have a cat named Lily who is about 8 years old and a dog named Dyxie who we got as a puppy last summer. According to the APPA, 60.2 million households own at least one dog and 47.1 million households own at least one cat.

In regard to my family’s social status, we are considered “middle class” because of my dad’s salary (Cohen 128). My dad has worked very hard to get where he is today. While my dad was attending his freshman year at the University of Wisconsin, both of his parents passed away. According to Hello Grief, “one in nine Americans had lost a parent before they were 20 years old”. My dad, being an only child and from a poverty-stricken home, had to learn to take care of himself. He started from the bottom as a life insurance agent and worked his way up. When my dad got promoted a few years ago, he became a managing partner at New York Life and he works very hard to excel at his job. There are many days where my dad will leave at 7am for work and not return home until 9pm.

Below I have attached a video that is a tour on the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. I chose this video for a couple reasons. One, my family and I are BIG Notre Dame fans. We have been to many football games and I have been to swim camp there many years in a row. Two, this shows off something cool in my state. Three, at about 1:27 of this video, it shows the basilica on campus that I have attended mass at many times in my life. I believe this basilica resembles what it means to be Catholic and the beauty that surrounds it. I hope you enjoy it.