My Experience As An Outsider

The experience of being an outsider is universal. It is something most of of can relate to and an experience that will probably happen sometime in everyone's lifetime. There are many examples of this in literature.

An outsider is defined as “a person who does not belong to a particular group.” In the book, The Outsiders, many of the characters can be described as being an outcast from the social society. Ponyboy, Johnny, and Cherry are outsiders in this novel because none of them really fit into the groups that they’re “supposed” to be in.

No matter where one goes on this dismal chunk of rock, one will probably encounter an outsider. In high school lunchrooms there is always at least one poor, sad teenager who has the unlucky seat next to the trash can. In parks and school playgrounds there is always that one melancholy kid that provides a stark contrast from the joyful shouts and screams coming from the other playing children. The experience of being an outsider is an inescapable universal condition that can be caused through social class, appearance, or other factors.

“Everybody tries to be exactly the same. I think being an outsider is a good thing”- Ethan Embry. What this quote is saying is it’s ok to be an outsider because everyone tries to act the same so standing out isn’t a bad thing.Being an outsider can seem as an negative thing to everyone else but in To kill a mockingbird the author Harper Lee shows that it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Being an outsider is not a bad thing and the characters from the story prove that. Scout was an outsider in the story but it in a way helped her grow as a person. Arthur Radley was also an outsider which kept him from the negativity happening in Maycomb. Even Atticus was seen as an outsider because of who was defending. Anyone can be an outsider and that’s okay.

I never thought I would be labeled an outsider, a misfit even. As I trudged my way through the halls of my small town high school, I would endure the gazing pairs of eyes, that belonged to my peers, followed by whispering and often times some laughter. I always used zone out during those repetitive speeches and commercials about the effects of gossiping and rumors; never did I imagine that one day I would be on the receiving end of of the everyday potshot. Growing up I was always the center of attention, the one everyone yearned to be friends with, never was I the antisocial child in the corner with nowhere to turn… not until high school. They say high school changes you. They say high school accounts for some of the greatest years of

I have always thought that I have been culturally diverse being the fact that I lived so close to the giant melting pot that is Denver Colorado. At the time you may think that you are jumping into a diverse world every time you go out to each dinner. Italian food gives you a peek at Italy, Chinese food gives you a picture in the life of a chinese citizen. The truth is that you don’t actually know diverse the world is until you immerse yourself into other countries and cities.

“Things are rough all over.” (Hinton 35) Ponyboy Curtis says this in the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. An outsider is someone who is different or doesn’t fit in in a certain way, which is why Hinton never emphasizes who the outsiders are; readers can interpret this book and the outsiders in their own way because Hinton proves that everyone is an outsider in their own manner. While it can be argued that every character is an outsider, the main outsiders in this book are Ponyboy Curtis, Johnny Cade, and Cherry Valance.

Becoming more comfortable with my emotions is the hardest part in the life. My family

Amaris Elliott-Engel, an American lawyer and legal journalist has a website, ‘Cultivated Compendium’. On the site there is an article titled ‘You’re an Outsider’: Adoptees Push to Open Up Access to Birth Certificates. The piece written by Elliott-Engel, was published by The Connecticut Post, the Danbury News-Times and saved as a pdf file on my desktop with the name ‘article-deluded’.

What does it mean to be an “outsider?” There may be many different definitions on the Internet, or in the dictionary, but my definition of what it means to be an “outsider,” is to be excluded. It may be simple, but it is true, and it is very meaningful to those who have been outsiders at one point in their lives. I know because I was one of these people. I am not an outsider in my every day to day life in school and other aspects of life, but there have been certain places and times when I have felt like I don’t belong and one of these times was last year, when my family went to Tucson, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico, for spring break.

Would you rather follow people that you don’t fully believe in, and mask what you really feel, or stand out from the crowd and be an individual even without others by your side? How about you lead that crowd. When you follow the Crowd, sometimes it isn’t something you completely, 100% believe in. So why would you want to pretend to be something you aren’t? Do you really need praise from others to feel like you are an important individual.

S.E Hilton’s inspirational book, Outsiders, is about a boy named Ponyboy and his best friends as they go on an adventure that will change them forever. I compared Ponyboy to myself and noticed many similarities and differences between the two of us. We are similar when it comes to social character, sports, grades, and even courage. Even though we have some similarities, we also have our differences when it comes to time period, freedom, generosity, and organization. I enjoyed comparing and contrasting Ponyboy to myself because he taught me that even though life can be tough, if you look on the bright side of things, you can find happiness once again.

Interviewee Billie Ragon gave me the opportunity to hear the story of her life and how her color and disability has affected how she has lived. Family values and the region, in which she lived, played a huge part in how she lived daily life. Different groups of people, whether it was family or just individuals from the community impacted her life greatly. Finally, Mrs. Ragon out of the kindness of her heart wanted to conduct this interview so maybe it could help others that may be suffering or feeling any kind of pain.

When people are growing up, being normal was the way to be cool. Everyone wants to be like everybody else and that’s the way it goes. What children and many adults still don’t understand is that being different and having diversity is a good thing. It is ok to be different, especially in today 's society. Being able to acknowledge that diversity and disability in everyday life and seeing the good in it will help bring together our society. For my next three paragraphs i 'm going to discuss what it was like to be an outsider, when I experienced diversity and an experience I have had with disability

What people in future generations need to understand is that not everyone has the same thoughts on what is “normal”. We need to teach the next generation to value themselves regardless of what other people think. We need to teach them that putting someone else down because they are different is wrong, that it’s okay not to fit in. What we can’t do is tell