Scott Clark. For a majority of you reading this, this is who you know me as. For those of you that are reading this whom I’ve never met, hello! I’m Scott Clark! For 18 years, this was the only name I knew and the only name I identified with, until the day before my high school graduation party. That was the day I learned a new name – Abelardo Rozo.
I remember the day well. I was in the family room, working on putting together picture collages of myself to share with everyone who came to my graduation party the following day when my mom walked in and tossed a piece of paper onto the table.
I looked at her and asked, “What’s this?” To which she replied, “Open it.” Not thinking much of it, I opened the folded document up and at the top it read “Birth Certificate.” As my eyes skimmed the document, words started to appear that I’d never seen in one document before. Cundinamarca. Bogota. Colombia. Rozo. Abelardo.
Puzzled, I again looked at my mom and said, “Who’s is this? Is this Billy’s (my older brother) birth certificate?” She smiled and said, “No, that’s a copy of your original birth certificate.” I looked at the document again in bewilderment. What is Cundinamarca? Abelardo Rozo?
My mother, sensing my confusion, went on to say that as she was pulling out a few things for my graduation, she stumbled upon this copy of my birth certificate and wanted me to have it. I looked at her and asked, “And Abelardo Rozo?” To which she said, “That’s your Colombian birth name.” I mumbled, Abelardo Rozo probably 3-4 times, laughing because I wasn’t able (and am still not able) to roll my R’s in the sexy Hispanic way. I didn’t know I had a Colombian birth name.
My mother left the room and I sat there, looking at this birth certificate I’d never seen before, analyzing every aspect, continuing to vocalize this new name, Abelardo Rozo. ABElardo Rozo. ABELARDO ROZO! Abelardo Rrrrrozo!
For 18 years, I had only identified with one name – Scott Clark. And now, I had been given a new puzzle piece to my life that I didn’t know existed. But did it matter?
From purely a naming perspective, no, it didn’t matter. I was Scott Clark and I would continue to be Scott Clark. In college, I’d tell my fraternity brothers and a select few girlfriends about my Colombian name which would draw some questions and laughter but it wouldn’t change anything about me. I was, and still am, Scott Clark.
But, would this new knowledge have any impact on me for the next 10-15 years? You’ll have to find out in the next blog entry – The Passive Years.
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