Whenever I think about where my identity comes from I always go back to city of Louisville, but even more so my family. I consider my family as a mobile place, a place that I can always return to. My house is the extension of my family, where we have stayed in for 24 years. I lived my whole life in that house. My family being immigrants from Taiwan created a very odd mixture of Asian culture dominated with the typical American culture.
My family provides me the focus and the drive I have to venture further in this world. I remember all the late nights through high school trying to prepare and cram in last minute studying for the exam next day. My parents would always be in the background to make sure I was still on task, but mainly to check to make sure I wasn’t too stressed out.
Various people may find this a sappy choice of a place, but it defines who I am more than anything else. When it comes down to it, if I had to rank the places that had truly shaped who I am would me my family, and then my high school. During my high school life my family faced trials due to my grandmother’s battle with cancer. This battle was a key moment in my family’s collective lives and would further shape me.
Space, Place & Identity 
Jonathan,
I think you do a good job weaving together aspects of family, place, culture, and self-identity. You spend time moving from large-city-scale to smaller-more-personal levels of place and selfhood – and then back out to your school. When you structure your speech, you may want to choose just one or two of these things – but this is a good exploration!
H.