Like
all kids growing up, at times I felt out of place—at school, at church, with
friends and even in my own family.
In early elementary school, I longed to play the more organized games of
the “big kids,” making myself out of place with my peers but not belonging with
the older students. Like many
others, this feeling grew as I entered the awkward stage of life that is
adolescence and was bolstered by the themes of many coming of age stories. Like Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, the account many young people hear is that leaving
home—especially for those from small towns and the middle of the country—is the
path to success and shedding the feeling of not fitting in.
The beginning of my latest column. Read the rest here.
(And if you like the topic, check out Front Porch Republic)
