The Mysteries of a Family
A Wild Card
For my Wild Card I chose the option to do a DNA test. With this being an option, I quickly jumped onto it. I thought it would make an interesting piece because it shows the strong ties in science, and how it can relate to your family history. So, with my DNA test I also created a family tree. For both I used Ancestry.com. So, what was the process of both the family tree and the DNA test, and how do the results compare and differ.
For the DNA test I ordered my test online, and I had it shipped to my house. From there I opened the box and I typed in the small code that was on the vial that I had to spit into. Then after I was finished, I put the top on which released this solution, and I mailed it out to be processed. The process would take in total four weeks. Over the course of the process they would do multiple test on my DNA and would compare them to DNA of people living in different regions. Then after the process was finished, I was able to access the results which would show me a break down of my different ethnicities and give me links to different people that were possible matches.
For the Family Tree it took me a lot longer to make then doing the DNA test. For the Family tree it took me most of the semester, and I am still currently working on it. For the family tree I started with myself then I would include my parents and my grandparents. Then from there it automatically generated my great grandparents and allowed me to find some distant great grandparents. Right now, the farthest that I have gotten was my seventh great grandfather, and he emigrated to the United States from Germany.
So how did my DNA test results compare to my current results of my family tree. Both my DNA test and family tree showed me that I have a strong German and Scotch Irish background. So that gives me the idea that somewhere down the bloodline the two ethnicities blended. Also, the patterns of immigration to the United States is the biggest comparison between the two. In the DNA test it showed that my family immigrated to the Northern states of New York, Pennsylvania, New England, and Ohio. These areas are known for having strong German and Scotch Irish culture. In my Family tree this is proven in the birth and death places of my distant relatives it shows that they both lived and died in either New York or Pennsylvania. So those are just some of the many ways that the DNA test and the Family tree have strong relations to one another.
Both the DNA test and the Family tree played a vital role in this project. It showed me the cultural ties I have to my family, and it showed me where my family came from originally. If it were not for these two vital parts of my project, my project would be nothing.
