What's in a Name?

Tyna Smith

Tyna Smith- African American ancestry; Tyna Smith is a young African American student at the middle school who recently moved to Valley Stream, New York from Sacramento, California. She is a member of the school's art club and is also a photographer for the yearbook staff, in addition to playing on the tennis team. She often receives praise for her creativity and neat penmanship, but is told that she needs to pay more attention in class and keep her eyes on her own assignments. She is generally a B+ student who rarely gets any Cs in her schoolwork, although she will occasionally earn A's in some of her classes. A defining aspect of Tyna's personality is that she is sensitive, yet free-spirited, always expressing her beliefs in a calm, composed manner. She is usually seen as a genial, thoughtful, cute, and sweet girl and according to her brother has "no time management skills, whatsoever." Her peers have often described her as having a positive, admirable personality and is considered likable with her reluctance to offend and desires to be tolerant and inclusive of those around her. She lives next door to an elderly woman named Clementine who is originally from Arkansas and gradually warms up to her and the rest of her family despite her snobby demeanor. Tyna is a kindhearted and selfless person with a strong conscience and clear sense of right and wrong, with a well-developed value system and lack of desire to compromise her beliefs for the sake of others. She previously attended a private school in her hometown and currently lives in a condominium in Valley Stream with her older brother Jeffrey and Nyla, her divorced mother. She is described as a naïve "everygirl" with an offbeat energy and particular love for old school Blues music, which distinguishes her vastly from many of her fellow classmates. 

She is passionate, desiring others to meet her at her levels of intensity in feeling, appreciating beauty, and in the richness of her inner thought life. As a person who grew up on anime, Tyna had a dream of becoming a voice actress for her favorite video game and cartoon characters. She tends to go through many phases according to her family and friends and will often spend hours debating with someone on her favorite ship from a show. An enthusiastic and outgoing young girl with a "can-do" attitude, she generally has an optimistic demeanor and tries hard to do good in the world and pursue her ambitions. She is considered exceptionally bright by many of her teachers and classmates and is notably an overachiever with a phobia of quitting. Tyna can be quite sassy and has a lot of grit, as she doesn't mince words and is not afraid of asserting herself to others. She can be somewhat flighty and unpredictable at times, although she has good intentions and will ultimately do what she believes is best. She is heedless to formality and social standings, addressing those around her with nicknames instead of their actual names, although she has slightly outgrown this trait by the time she is an adult. She also likes to volunteer and was shown to be helping out at a cryptozoology museum during the weekends as a high school student, where she tries warning others against the lizard people. While her determination and optimism are usually seen in her desire to succeed, Tyna can occasionally be hard on herself and make it difficult to meet her own high standards. She often does well in her schoolwork and is considered somewhat of a nerd in her academics, particularly excelling in math, which she occasionally tutors some of her classmates in to earn extra money on the side. 

She generally tries to hide her negative emotions behind her sociable nature when faced with uncomfortable or frustrating situations or settings. Because of her spontaneous and adaptable nature, she is seen as curious and intelligent, with an empathetic soul and an altruistic personality. Tyna's father, who was 23 years old had enrolled in college with an undeclared major, but would ultimately go on to study to become a real estate agent. During this time, her mother was months from graduating with her associate's degree at age 21 and would go on to marry her father in a vineyard, finding out she was pregnant with her first child 5 years later at 26. Her parents bought their first house shortly after and went on to work on achieving their career goals as her mother earned some certifications, eventually welcoming their daughter. She would go on to meet Kendall, a little girl whom established a lasting friendship with her from a young age, alongside her cousin and best friend Jasmine. Tyna loves her Nintendo Switch and is often regarded as a master gamer, holding a record of beating most of her virtual friends, including a pen pal from Senegal, at League of Legends and similar online role-playing games. Animated and vivacious, she is very popular on social media and is also a massive fan of K-pop, which she regards as her guilty pleasure, along with "anything from the 80s". Her emotions sometimes end up coming across in extremes, such as her high level of excitement in introducing her friends to her favorite RPG, Persona 5. She also feels intense anger upon being mocked dismissively by a fellow male gamer who underestimated her abilities as a young female of color. Although she is usually cheerful and levelheaded, Tyna is a sagacious girl with a love of gaming who has a competitive side to her, finding enjoyment competing in matches against others and feeling frustrated at the face of defeat.