What's in a Name?

Peter Essien

Peter Essien- Ghanaian ancestry; Peter Essien is a young honors student with Ghanaian ancestry who is often described as being very optimistic and enthusiastic, as well as sociable and talkative with his peers. He has two sisters named Amber and Serena and a brother named Zantis, and he is known to enjoy entertaining conversation with anybody about his love for Japanese anime and culture. He is an outgoing and lighthearted boy who can frequently be found grinning or chuckling easily at just about anything, with a love of sharing jokes to make his loved ones smile. He enjoys humor and helping others, as well as spending quality time with the ones that he cares about the most. An amateur comedian, Peter loves to playfully tease those around him and often tries to use his natural charm in order to impress his classmates, namely his love interest Tyna Smith. He is a fan and consistent follower of her gaming channel and shares her sense of humor, leading him to develop a fondness for her. Despite his attraction to her, his advances are repeatedly dismissed by and misconstrued by her as being "annoying" and "bothersome". He still has never given up hope that one day, she will come to return his affections for her in some form or another. Peter is also a gifted student who readily excels in his classes, being good in his English courses due to his hidden talent to write poetry and rhymes. He curates a great Instagram feed of street art from various locations and also seems to like writing free-verse poetry when he can. He tends to make quick, spontaneous rhymes while eating lunch at the school cafeteria, even as his voice is changing and is considered a talented rapper. Despite his immense love for Ice Spice and J-Pop from Ayumi Hamasaki, he also enjoys Throwback Rap, being a big fan of LL Cool J. 

Peter likewise appreciates ScHoolboy Q and is a lover of music, having scratched his turntables and often mixed beats as a hobby with his uncle when he was younger. He is a fan of a diverse genre of music and periodically listens to alternative hip-hop and experimental rock music as well, considering the band Gorillaz to be among his favorites. He is sociable around crowds, as he would often start conversations with those he came across on the street even as he struggled to fit in after moving to the city. Though many of his acts are selfless, he is partly driven by his fluctuating self-esteem, which causes him to feel smaller than he truly is. Peter generally sits with the more popular kids at the lunch table, who enjoy his company due to his vibrant, comical personality. His wisecracking demeanor can cause him to appear unprofessional or childish, with his humor also extending itself to his tormentors as he inadvertently provokes annoyance or irritation in them. An amateur entrepreneur, he aspires to become a music producer or go into music marketing in college if comedy doesn't prove effective for him. He serves as the class president a few later years, providing him with an ego boast as many of his peers begin considering him "very cool" by contrast to some of his other classmates. Peter could have a slight jealous streak when others tried to steal his spotlight, potentially stemming from him home life, where he is the often picked on middle child. His increased social status also causes him to develop a weaker sense of morality, as he becomes less open to helping others and more likely to doubt people or antagonize those he believes have wronged him. He can also be very prideful and had a habit of keeping photos of his ex-girlfriends up on his social media long after they'd broken up as a means of spiting them, often twisting the truth about his romantic encounters and refusing to accept defeat. 

Despite behaving somewhat selfishly, his close friend Reggie Cox, an African American student from Detroit, Michigan often serves as a realistic counterbalance to his arrogant attitude. Peter humbles down over time and is provided with the wake-up call he needed in order to get his act together, making him less pretentious by then. He also shows his compassionate side once more when he is taking the initiative in telling his older brother Zantis that a girl was manipulating him to get benefits from him, which proves that he still has good intentions despite his previously proud behavior. He was born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York and is generally described as a tall, handsome boy with a somewhat urban appearance. He has coarse, tightly kinked black hair that is styled in locs, as well as a dark, mocha-colored complexion and prominent dark brown eyes. Peter's father is generally described as a devoted man who enjoys tending to his duties as both a respiratory therapist and provider for his family. He is seen as being slightly below average in height and heavyset, as he wears glasses and has dark brown eyes, a dark complexion that resembles the color of "brown espresso", afro-textured hair that he keeps buzzed down and a mustache above his upper lip. His father stayed briefly with some relatives in Manchester after the birth of his first son and studied diligently every night to memorize the questions for his citizenship test. He tries to encourage his daughter Amber but can be a bit overprotective of her when it comes to her growing interest in paragliding. Peter's mom in the meantime encourages her sons and daughters to take pride in their racial background and African roots, promoting very afro-centric conditions in her home. She is often seen in tunics and found his classmate Sharidan Tellez to be very artificial when he expressed a growing affection for her, although she gradually tries to get to know her better. 

She wore a two-piece Kente set, which included a wraparound skirt and shawl on her wedding day, pairing it with a modern lace blouse and a traditional tekua headdress. Her youngest child Serena won an award for reading the most books in her class in first grade and is currently learning how dogs are affected by body language. Like Tyna, who attends the same church as him, Peter has strong Christian roots from his family's native Ghana and plays percussion for his church's band every Sunday. Although his relationship with her ultimately does blossom into anything more, he goes on to date Sharidan, a pretty and popular female student with whom he forms one of the school's power couples. Despite his faith, he has implied that he might have had sex at least once, if not twice, as his first time was with his ex-girlfriend, who is unknown. It may have been a lie, but nobody knows for sure, and he claims that the two of them took E and stayed up the whole night "doing it". Peter strongly opposes ableism as well and has become progressively more tolerant, especially after forming a close bond with Ivan, a 9-year-old boy with Pfeiffer Syndrome. It is a condition that is characterized by the premature fusion of skull bones and having underdeveloped feet and teeth, which explains his need for using crutches and braces. As a first-generation immigrant who initially came to America with her husband shortly before he was born, his mother deeply cares for her family and children and goes great lengths to ensure their safety. Whenever she is not relaxing in the comfort of the television screen, she enjoys soap making and sharing elaborate homecooked meals with her extended family, as well as participating in barre with some of her closest female friends. 

Peter has traveled extensively to the Cape Coast, which serves as the capital of the Central Region and was the first capital of the Gold Coast before Accra. It is home to Ghana's oldest schools and some of its top universities, such as the well-known University of Cape Coast. The city of Accra itself is a center for contemporary art, fashion, and music, including highlife and afrobeats, and Makola Market is a massive, colorful bazaar that offers an immersive look at local daily life. Located nearby, Kakum National Park features one of the few treetop canopy walkways in Africa, offering a bird's-eye view of the tropical rainforest. Peter is shown to be wearing a blue suit with a yellow tie and a light blue shirt, as well as brown dress shoes by the time he is 48. He investigates a local scandal at one point, using his intelligence to get information, but struggles to balance his ambition with his loyalty to friends. He is often obsessed with perfecting his craft and getting to the "big time," even if it means taking risks or engaging in a rivalry with another performer. One of his recurring catchphrases is "Wow, what a terrific audience!", and he remains eager to stimulate others while constantly chasing the next "big laugh". Peter later works as a DJ in London for several years in his adulthood and marries Ujunwa, a British woman of mixed English and Nigerian ancestry who has an Igbo father and works as an event planner for a large corporation. The pair tour the Seychelles together, island hopping and enjoying the diverse creole culture throughout their honeymoon. He ultimately has four kids in total with his future wife and is recognized as a funny dad whom everyone tends to adore. He gets a job as an SEO Specialist and continues to do standup comedy on the side, leading a happy life overall as he moves his family to Brooklyn Heights. ESFP 7w6