Buddies- Tina Zou

I felt like Noah really spoke about his social life and the restrictions of his social life. His advantages in being social is being able to speak multiple languages. Restrictions would be being colored and picking what he wanted to be identified as. It could have also been an advantage, depending on how you think about it. I wanted to write about my social life. It’s practically nonexistent but there’s a reason why it’s nowhere to be found. Noah was forced to find his identity in ways I could not relate. He had to figure out what group he wanted to be associated with and stick with it. For example, he had to pick who to play with in the recess yard. He was put in a white kids classroom but played with the black/ colored kids during recess. He realized he didn’t want to be in the white kids class and switched his class after many warnings from his counselor. This really lingered with me since he didn’t want to be associated as a white kid. Feeding into the idea that in his black community, he was privileged, therefore different. He knew having a white dad didn’t mean he had to live as a white person. He grew up so engulfed by his black culture that being white was just in his genes. Noah’s writing style was very humorous. He wrote it to make you feel less pity for him. He didn’t want you to cry or feel bad for him. It was to educate and tell his story. My story wasn’t humorous, it was more embarrassing and a realization on why I don’t have many real friends. I guess it could be funny on how you interpret it. I didn’t want you to laugh but I can see why you would. I wanted to write something relatable. To really connect with the reader since we all probably had an awkward encounter that made you step out of your comfort zone. I decided to explain the general basics of my culture [my old school] in the first paragraph since you wouldn’t get it if I didn’t. As the story goes on, I reveal more about what you need to know about the culture. Our cultures brings us through different experiences. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. My culture definitely shaped me. If I didn’t spend 9 years at my old school, I would not be the person I am today. Culture gives us experiences and experiences teach us.