Personal

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do you pronounce your name?
2. What is the heritage of your name?
3. Wait, Jayel Aheram is not your real name?
4. Where are you from?
5. What is your ethnic background?
6. For how long did you serve/deploy?
7. Did you ever kill anyone?
8. What are you doing now?

1. How do you pronounce your name?

JAY•EHL AH•heh•rahm.

2. What is the heritage of your name?

“Jayel” comes from birth name’s initials, J and L. It is also my childhood nickname. The current spelling was devised by my dad for an AOL screenname. “Aheram” was a random name I came up with for an online handle on Excite’s Virtual Places.

3. Wait, Jayel Aheram is not your real name?

No, it is not. It is a pseudonym, a nom de plume, a stage name, an online handle, a not-so-secret identity. Why? Because I am an intensely private person and those who know me know that I am extremely paranoid about my privacy.

4. Where are you from?

I am not really from anywhere. I grew up as a military dependent and lived in many different cities and countries. I was born in Alaska, but grew up in the Philippines, California, Hawaii, and Japan. Home, to me, is where I sleep at night.

5. What is your ethnic background?

My mother is a sweet half-Filipina, half-Spaniard beauty and my biological father is blond-haired, blue-eyed boy of German descent from Indiana. I think he is part-something else, too.

6. For how long did you serve/deploy?

I served for four years in the United States Marine Corps (with four more years of inactive reserve status after that). I deployed twice, once to Iraq and then with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.

7. Did you ever kill anyone?

Why would you even ask that? Seriously, stop.

8. What are you doing now?

I am currently pursuing a degree in Mass Communications. And working. And doing all sort of wonderful creative things.

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