When I was a kid, a teacher would come to my school to teach us English once a week.

I have two memories from her class:

1. She leaves the school crying because we forgot to do our homework (mean little 10-year-olds!).

2. She randomly picked British names for us. Mine was Barbara... I hated it.

Jacket, vintage | Tank, North of West | Pants, Everlane (click here for an invitation) | Bag, vintage - it was my mom's! (similar) | Clogs, Nina Z

About 5 years later, I decide that if I could choose, my name would be Sam, just Sam - probably short for Samantha, though I did not like that name either (oh teenagers!).

Fast forward a couple more years, I'm living on the campus of the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, England. Two Chinese students share a room on my floor. We introduce ourselves, and I realize that they adopted Western names. I'm surprised, but quickly realize that it's a pretty common practice.

It's 2008, I work in Beijing for the Olympics. We take Chinese classes. Some of my colleagues earn Chinese names, based on either physical characteristics or traits of personality. I discover a new common practice. Full circle - though I'm sad I did not stay long enough to be able to earn one.

Last week of August 2018 - I'm thrift shopping while waiting for a friend before we get dinner. I try on a jacket and get an instant crush. I text my friend and tell her that because she's late I'm gonna get myself a jacket (oh the excuses I find to justify a purchase!). I leave the store, to come back 10 minutes later after my friend asks where the jacket is. I try it on a second time and finally take it home.

You can now call me Brooklyn Welch...

Now tell me. Did a foreign language teacher ask you to choose a name? What was it?