Style Piece

 

Perhaps it came from being an only child, or perhaps in was biologically in my nature, but all my life I have felt as if I were too young for my feelings and my ideas; an adult mindset in a child’s body.  The older I become, the more I feel like I am growing into my own skin.  When I was growing up, my family lived in a neighborhood with many elderly people and almost no one my own age.  Having no sisters or brothers and not being with my school friends all of the time, I was surrounded by adults and only adults for most of the first part of my life.  My father has two brothers and a sister, and for eleven years I was the only child in the entire paternal side of my family.  Holidays and family gatherings always found me with the adults– only one child means no “kid’s table.”  I was immersed into “grown-up” conversations as long ago as I can remember.  I believe this has a lot to do with who I am now and how I conduct myself.  I have always loved debates, politics, and having conversations on topics seen as too taboo for someone of my age.  I am finally at a period and place in my life when I can freely talk to people older than myself and not immediately have my ideas disregarded.  (No one ever listens to a child’s viewpoint on reelections or the economy, anyway.)  I have always felt more comfortable with adults, and my entire life has been filled with hearing a surprised “Oh Lauren, you are so mature for your age” from my older relatives and parents’ friends.  I take it as a meaningful compliment, as a kind of validation from other people, saying that my ideas and thoughts and views actually do matter, and that they are worth something.  In middle school my principal would constantly say, “children are meant to be seen and not to be heard.”  I have never heard something more untrue, and it is a statement and a belief I disagree with wholeheartedly.  I can only hope that my experiences have molded me into someone more tolerant of and open to ideas from anyone, especially regardless of age.  You’re never too young to have an opinion.  Opinions are our existence; without them we are nothing but hollow shells.  They are our morals, virtues, and spirits.  They are so essentially ours, and they definitely do matter.

 

We got this writing back the last day of class, and although I had forgotten about it I am extremely glad I was reminded so I could include it.  I feel strongly that this piece might be the most representative of my writing within the entire portfolio.  I revised it a bit for the final version to be put in this section, but the ideas remain unchanged.  This piece tells about myself, but it is essentially a style piece and ultimately it tells about how I write.