What's in a name?

(April 6) CCA, day 1.

The instructor for our Success Strategies class, Rocco, presents us with an ice-breaker:  "Write down on a slip of paper your name, and something that no one in the room knows about you."

Well, considering that not too many people outside the room know about the cheese wax people, I figured it was a safe bet that no one inside the room knew about the cheese wax people.  I filled out my slip of paper.

Rocco collects the slips of paper and returns to the front of the class.  As he reads them aloud, we are to write each item down on another sheet of paper.  We are to then interview our classmates and find out who belonged to each unique trait.

Three or four slips of paper into the exercise, he reads, "I make people out of...  Cheese wax?"  A collective "Huh?" fills the room.  Rocco glances at me briefly then looks around the room, as he tries to avoid giving away an answer to our assignment.  He continues reading the rest of the slips of paper.

One by one we each catch brief glimpses into the lives of people we have yet to meet.  And one by one, we will get to meet those people today.

After 20 minutes of interviewing each other, we reconvene to discuss our findings as a class.  Rocco pulls my slip of paper out first, stating that curiosity bumped this one to the top of the pile.  "'I make people out of cheese wax.'  Who is this person?"  

"Allison!" the class responds in unison.  Then comes the demand for an explanation.  They get the abridged version of course, as class is only 2 hours long;-)

"Huh..."  Rocco mulls over the concept for a moment.  Then, with a combination of whimsy and matter-of-factness, "I'm going to call you Cheese Wiz."

So it was written, so it shall be done.  The name stuck.  Not only am I now Cheese Wiz to my classmates...  Due to Janette's trumpeting announcement of my arrival one morning, "Cheese Wiz!" shortly thereafter became "Cheese" from nearby locker buddies.  Even other instructors have taken to calling me "Cheese Wiz."  Janette threatens to have them put it on my diploma.  And knowing Rocco, it wouldn't surprise me if it were stitched onto my jacket for graduation.

I've never had an actual nickname before:-)