I Am Who I Am

For a school project, we were asked to write about our "political souls." As we are still only sophomores in highschool, for some of us we are only just discovering what we think of politics and what is important to us. Since this trimester we have been learning about politics and the election, we were ready to talk about how we feel on some issues or just how we think about politics in general. As I write this, all the class's papers are being printed into a book form, an exciting thing. The title is "Our Political Rising" a fitting title i think, since we are only beginning to realize who we are politcally. Well here is a part from my paper that is called "I Am Who I Am" in the beginning we chose a quote that we could relate to. I chose this quote from a Japanese band called Arashi, they are my favorite band right now, and a lot of their music inspires me this song in particular:

“People are people, you are who you are.When you compare yourself, you will be defeated.You have the strength not to lose.So you can break through any walls.”
-Fight Song written by Arashi


In my school I am a minority. Almost every single one of us has had this feeling of being alone, and the struggle to be ourselves in a world that is different. In my school I am one of the very few Catholics. I go to church every Sunday and sing in the youth choir that my mom directs. I also go to youth group after mass. It’s nice to have that place and people who believe the same thing I do. We have a huge youth group and we do a lot of fun things together. It’s a great place to learn about being Catholic, and if I didn’t have this place I would be ignorant of many important things about my faith...
It's easy to be Catholic at home and at church, but it's different at school. Not only do the people not believe in the same thing I do, but sometimes I'm scared about what people will think about me. In the past I’ve run into situations of people bashing Christians. It's a hard and sometimes scary thing to do, but I speak up and defend it. Although this doesn't happen very often, I have had some arguments with people about religion. There are even some times when I keep my mouth shut because I'm afraid that people will not care that they're offending me and it'll get worse.
..... There are people who are in the minority in my class and then when they speak about something they believe in, sometimes those things are shot down by people who don’t agree. Sometimes they are strong and can still talk about it, others just sort of seem to shrink back and stay silent. I wish people weren’t so judgmental. I wish we could see the differences and accept them and try to understand that person’s views or beliefs. For example, the recent election, people seriously disagree with others who don’t share their views. But it is easier to be with people who agree with you.
On the retreat and at my church, most people are conservative. I hear lots of negative comments about liberals especially when Obama won the election. I definitely support Obama and it was hard being with people who didn’t agree with me on that. But I looked past that and I saw what we have in common which is our faith. At school, I’m in the majority who like Obama. They are two different worlds for me. Since I live and grow in two different places, what I’m taught and what I’m exposed to can become who I am. I was raised Catholic and I’ve gone to this school since kindergarten. Almost equal time in these two very different places. Even though I’m Catholic and have some conservative views, I have some liberal views as well. I’m right in the middle. These places shape who I am and I’m still growing and there is still so much for me to learn. But living in these two worlds has shown me that it’s important to see both sides and to bring them together.
Barack Obama talks a lot about the unity of our country, the unity of two parties, the unity of two worlds. Like Obama said on January 4th in his Iowa victory speech: “In lines that stretched around schools and churches, in small towns and in big cities, you came together as Democrats, Republicans and independents, to stand up and say that we are one nation. We are one people. And our time for change has come.” In our nation, though we must stand united, we are a nation of individuals. We must be Democrats, Republicans, Catholics, and everything else and live together.
When I see people being themselves, even if it takes courage that many lack, I want to figure out where that bravery comes from. When I see that, I applaud them silently in head and hope I can be more like them. In fact, some of the things I said in this paper were things I’ve never told anyone before.
My religion is a part of the many parts I am. I am who I am. I need to remember that, and so does every person in this country and world.


It was cool to write this paper. But I think we all feel the same sometimes, we all try to fit in, even if our beliefs are different. There are many people who are a minority, though for many different reasons. Like I said, I think it would be really cool if people were themselves more often. I mean I can't say for sure if someone was being themself or not, only that person can. But really individuals are what make up this world, we were all created to be different. Let us have the courage to be who we were meant to be. Lets do our best.