Peep the link to Fleet Foxes
“Саша! サーシャ! Sasha!” ringed in my head as my attention was requested by some other. My mother called my nickname in all three languages that I was articulate in to get my attention--she only did this when I really wasn’t listening. My eyes had wandered off towards the window where the warm luster of the lazy August sun was glittering onto the marble countertop. All I could think about was finishing my Japanese homework. “Why do I have to do this? All the other boys don’t have to do work now.” “You’re different from them and they’re different from you,” my mother would reply. In the heat of the moment, I foolishly replied that I wished I was normal.
Although there are many things that a kid does not know, cannot know, and will not know, when the occasional nostalgia kicks in, I wish I knew at a younger age that there is no such thing as “normal.” The youth should not have to worry about conforming to an ideal that is a facade, there is no established model of normality created by anyone. Instead children should focus their time and energy exploring the beauty of that time in their life of innocence and losing that innocence. Instead of separating people based upon an individual’s labels, people should take the time to overlook exterior appearances and to understand a person. Seriously, be as weird, specific, and exceptional as you want to be without that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that you will be judged and ridiculed, because the universe is no more in control of you than you are of your universe.
I merely see my heritage as influences on my character. I have learned how to love and connect with others in a different language and culture. The depth of my compassion is deeper as a result of increased perspective. The sacrifice and love my parents have put into my upbringing to give me an opportunity in our jungle has empowered me to become my own person. While I am still hindered by high school’s restrictive social norms, the egg has begun to crack open as an eye peers through the cracks. As my eighteenth birthday looms closer and closer, I see a long and eventful primary period of my life end as another begins.
I merely see my heritage as influences on my character. I have learned how to love and connect with others in a different language and culture. The depth of my compassion is deeper as a result of increased perspective. The sacrifice and love my parents have put into my upbringing to give me an opportunity in our jungle has empowered me to become my own person. While I am still hindered by high school’s restrictive social norms, the egg has begun to crack open as an eye peers through the cracks. As my eighteenth birthday looms closer and closer, I see a long and eventful primary period of my life end as another begins.
I feel like in this you really address some issues that people have with themselves, like trying to control the universe or worrying that they'll be judged by their peers. Then, at the end, you say that your eighteenth birthday is looming closer, a somewhat darker feeling reflected in your word choice, and what I'm assuming you mean is that your childhood is coming to a close. My question for you is this: why does turning eighteen mean changing out of being a child? I know that that's the legal age for an adult, and maybe you just really want to become an adult, but there's no need to discard being childish and silly for a number. I doubt that will happen to you, because you clearly enjoy having fun and laughing and doing entertaining activities, but that doesn't end at a certain age. Responsible adults can still have childish hearts.
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