Accepting Myself
It’s 2017
I don’t belong here.
This town is trapped in a white bubble.
I am trapped here
In this school
In this house
In my head
Everyone looks the same
Like there is only one way to be
One color. One language. One voice.
I don’t fit in
Why didn’t I get this biology question right on the first try?
Why am I not in all AP classes like everyone else?
I am stupid
I don’t deserve to be Indian
I don’t deserve anything
I want to leave. Go to some far away beautiful place where nobody knows my name.
And I will be free
Where I can learn who I am and start from scratch.
Where I am not a disappointment.
Where everyone looks different and lives in peace.
It’s 2018
So I go.
To a summer camp in the middle of Pennsylvania with people from around the country
Whose faces I have never seen before
Where nobody knows my name
I let myself get out of the cage which trapped me
Use my voice
It was where they accepted me
And for the first time I felt like I belonged somewhere
It's 2019
It's time to leave town
and go to college
College is like an ocean and you have to teach yourself how to swim
You have to figure out how to navigate the world on your own
But as I ovecome each challenge,
I am learning who I am