At some point before graduating high school we were likely asked to write a report on our family history. Where our ancestors emigrated from, how long they have been in the United States, in what ways that history influences our families’ traditions: The driving topic is always, “Where is your family from?”

I’ve always struggled with this question. With the exception of my great-grandfather from Germany, I don’t know what country any specific member of my family came from, just that I am a jumbled mix of many nations.

I am part of a generation of Americans who claim to be simply “Americans.” For the most part, our ancestors immigrated in the early 20th century or before. We have no specifically strong connection to a particular country in any part of the world.

In the next 100 years, I think a large portion of the United States’ population will join me in this mindset. Marriage after marriage will continue to mix families, and consequently backgrounds and ethnicities, as time goes on. The question, “Where is your family from?” will become so complicated and so detailed that it won’t be worth asking.

Saying your great-great-great-great grandmothers came over from Italy, Spain, South Korea or Nigeria, one of your great-great-great grandfathers was from Mexico, and one of your great-great-great grandmothers left Germany during World War II, would better be summed up as, “I am American.”

I do not intend to devalue the concept of taking pride in a family’s identity. Instead, I believe the adjective “American” will take on a new meaning. Yes, an American will be an individual born in the United States. But it will also be someone whose history and identity are made up of so many cultures and so many countries that it created something new and united: a population that defines itself as ethnically American.

That’s not to say America will cease to be a nation of immigrants. Immigration is a part of our culture; it is part of who we are. In fact, a report published by the United Nations identified the United States as the nation with the largest number of immigrants worldwide. The U.S. has four times as many immigrants as any other country, making up nearly 12 percent of our population.

As time goes on and as nations around the world become more developed, immigration to the United States will become less of a necessity. We will no longer be one of the only places in the world where someone in trouble can find refuge. Instead, we will embrace our “melting pot” nickname we have received over the years. This identity will not be one that is limited to defining our past, but will also define how we move forward as a nation.

The U.S. will not be a nation of “where are we from” but instead “where are we now.”

(Note: It would be a disservice to the people of Central and South America if I did not recognize that the term “American” can be used to describe anyone that lives on the American continent as a whole. I use it in this context to describe an individual from the United States of America. It is unfortunate that the English language does not have another way of describing such an individual, but that is a topic for another time.)