During my years at school, I was a quiet, very shy, learned and sensitive girl. By the time I had finished elementary school, I had read most of Shakespeare's works, some Jane Austen and many other classical works of literature. I learned great amounts of vocabulary and would sit at home or in the library looking up definitions to words in English and Spanish. I never wanted to be thought of as an ignorant person, I wouldn't let that happen. Unfortunately, my education developed alongside individuals who cared little about their own education, who were lazy and spoke unintelligibly and I had to communicate with them on a regular basis. I was picked on by them about my appearance and my shyness. I was perpetually saddened by the state of things because I thought it would always be thus.
And so, through no fault of my own, was I thrust into the company of those who were not my equals and who I had to lower myself intellectually to converse with. I looked back recently at some personal writing from my teenage years and an instant message log that I kept and the former was full of eloquence and well-written prose, yet the latter was a jumble of slang and ill-constructed sentences. In other words, I was dumbing myself down to be able to be accepted by my peers. I was even doing this during my Junior year of university, a time in which one can be quiet lonesome, and I befriended some less than savoury characters who treated me poorly and with little to no respect. I should not have done so, I should not have thought so little of myself and am now ashamed of having degraded myself with such company.
During my last year of university, however, I (with encouragement from my then-boyfriend, Gavin) decided that I would not take any of that anymore - and I developed good friendships with some of my fellow students in Anthropology, who were studious, good-natured ladies. Little by little, I have been breaking free of the metaphorical ropes that had been tying me down, which were repressing my true intellect, my knowledge. Now, as an adult, I can socialize with those who have more in common with myself than I could have in my younger days. We should never feel bad about our knowledge, for we've worked hard to obtain it. My years have been spent in study and thought and not in idleness as many of my peers. I want to make something of my life, and I shan't dumb myself down to appeal to others again.
