Post by jahmald98 on Nov 25, 2017 18:32:23 GMT
I live in a town called Bowmanville, which at the time during my early high school days (9,10) was basically an all white town. Now it's better because Bowmanville is getting bigger and more families with different ethnicities are moving in but still majority of the people that live there are white. Anyways the point I'm making is that in grade 9-10 I was like the only black kid in my school (well at least in my grade, you can pretty much count the whole black population in my school with one hand) 2 of them including my older brother and sister. Back to the point, I was already a sore thumb and felt pressured to fit in. A big important factor that was a part of my school was fashion. Always having the newest clothes and following the newest trends etc. I remember one time I had these no name brand shoes and some group of kids walked by as I was standing by my locker and had my some snarky comment. I tend to not let what other people say bother me, but I'm also the kind of person that really cares how people view and think of me (never really cared about that but probably developed it when I moved to Bowmanville). After that, I became very self-conscious and stopped wearing those shoes and then purchased the "trendy" shoes and other fashion accessories (I had a small job so I was able to save up lots of money and get the things that I wanted/pressured to get). After essentially keeping up with my other peers I felt less pressured and also felt like I fit in more, because instead of people criticizing what I wore they instead admired the things I had. What I gained from conforming was acceptance and invisibility. What I lost was my ability to act and portray myself the way I wanted to.