My eyes burned from staring at the computer screen for eight hours, but my quest for information was halted. I felt overwhelmed by a deep sense of disappointment. No record hints in the form of leaves appeared, and after scouring multiple databases, I could find no further information about my ancestors. I hit a brick wall, and I thought my genealogy days were over. Six years earlier, in 2011, my interest in genealogy was piqued when Mrs. Johnikin, my sixth-grade reading teacher, gave my class a homework assignment telling us to construct our family tree. At that time, I knew very little about my ancestors, save the names of my grandparents and great-grandmother. When I came home, I asked my mom about our family tree, and she filled me in with her genealogical knowledge. To get more information, I called up my grandmother, and she also gave me fresh information about my ancestors. Then, I used the best source of knowledge about the family, my great-grandmother. She told me many things about my family, including previously unknown cousins. After I turned in the assignment, I felt compelled to learn even more about my heritage because I felt a strong connection to the people in my tree, so I started an account with Ancestry. …show more content…
After entering the information gathered from my family, a green leaf appeared by almost every person’s name. The leaf meant that Ancestry had this person and more information about them in their databases. When I clicked on a leaf, a wealth of information sprang up about each ancestor, including things that nobody in my family was aware of. However, after endless leaf-clicking, new information ceased, and, with my eleven-year-old mind, I decided that it was best to stop