I decided to write this blog post about how socioeconomic status of a person in their adolescence can very strongly correlate to how their socioeconomic future looks, which usually relates to college attendance or not. After reading If I Ever Get Out of Here, I have been thinking about this idea a lot more than I … Continue reading Adolescent Socioeconomic Status Compared to Future →

You know when you’re listening to music and all of a sudden a song comes on the radio or Spotify that perfectly describes your life? You scramble for your phone to search for the song title before it ends so as to not lose this four minute song that somehow validates all of your inner … Continue reading The Art of Feeling Seen →

Adolescence is all about discovering who you are as your own person but usually also involves trying to change yourself in order to fit in with those around you. As you transition out of adolescence, you start to appreciate the things that make you unique, rather than suppress them. It can also involve trying to … Continue reading Discovering and Embracing Your Unique Traits During Adolescence →

Something that I wanted to expand on from our last class, was the idea of discrimination. I luckily have not experienced racial discrimination, but I know friends that have. It is truly a blessing that we do not see much racial discrimination today, and until this past summer, I thought that it barely still existed. … Continue reading The Issues that We Still See Today from “If I Ever Get Out of Here” →

One of the key features of adolescence is the strong influence of the outside world on the development of oneself. Pressure comes in many shapes and sizes, and from various directions. A common source is from family and friends, who often have the largest impact on how identity and feelings evolve. Eric Gansworth explores the … Continue reading Internalization of Shame →

Philip Zeidman - Second Blog Post in Representing Adolescence Well, for my blog this time, I’ve sort of decided to make a connection with my major, which would be political science. Thinking about this, a very common topic right now in the political sphere is race, as almost it always has been. While history has … Continue reading Mango Street to Mango Mainstream →

It is no wonder why it is believed that music can transcend any and all boundaries: it goes beyond language barriers, and brings people together, sometimes in the most unexpected of ways. Music has proven to be consistently special and important, especially to the youth and teens coming of age. At the end of the … Continue reading Beyond Boundaries: Music →

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl1Pp2lg9K8 Above is a video link to an interview with the main character in the film referenced in my blog post. Specifically focusing on the first half of the video, Khalil speaks on the film's main idea and how a traumatic event can be so paralyzing to an individual, especially in their adolescence. It also … Continue reading The Struggle of Stepping into a New Life →

When reading If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth, I often compared Lewis's journey of middle school to other media I have consumed about middle school and high school. I was intrigued to learn about a boy’s experience in his early adolescence. In addition, the novel educated me on the experiences young … Continue reading Gender and Bullying in “If I Ever Get Out of Here” →

What is art? Leo Tolstoy in his book, What is Art?  perfectly captures the essence of art. He says: “To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself... transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling — that is the activity of art” (Casey 199). Simply, art is a means of expressing one’s feelings and emotions in … Continue reading Music, One of The Greatest Works of Art →