In every school, no matter what school it is, there is always an outcast. Most districts start having an outcast in either 6th grade or 7th grade. Those people sometimes try to do whatever they would have to do, just to not be an outcast. What really inspires me is how Laurie Halse Anderson, the author of Speak, put Melinda in the book. Melinda might care a little, but its not like she changes what she thinks or how/what she wears her cloths. She luckily found a better way to deal with the depression: with drawing.
Art can help with many emotions: depression, anger, sadness, etc. But in the case of Melinda it helps her with fear and a feeling inside that eats her up each and every day. During the summer she went to party just like any teenager would do in a normal life. A guy that thought he could get some that night, went to Melinda because she was easy to get. So he went to Melinda, started acting like he was her boyfriend but really he was just trying to get, what every guy is thinking about. As they go outside, they lay down on the grass under a tree. He started asking her if she wanted to do "it" but she didn’t answer. So he went for it. He raped her, and now because of that, every time she's looking at a tree she has the flashbacks that eats her up. She tries to forget the about it but for some reason that memory over laps the good ones. As she goes to school, in her art class, the teacher told her to pick a piece of paper out of the jar/world. She, all of a sudden got a tree. She asks if she could another one because it was really childish for her to draw a tree. The teacher said no, she has to draw the tree. So she started on her tree. She tought that by getting a better view of a tree. She laid down outside under a tree. As she was staring at the tree the flashbacks started coming. She freaked out but she went to draw the tree. And as she kept drawing and drawing the trees even more, she got comfortable with the trees, but she still got the flashbacks. No matter what she tries to keep going and just keeps on drawing, as much as she can.
I know how Melinda feels. My old school, Greendale Middle School, made me feel like I was a complete outcast. Everyone gave me looks as if I was an alien that was disgusting to look at. If you don't know how it feels... well, it feels like burning hell. You feel like everyone in the whole entire world is against you. Of course you, not knowing what to do but just deal with it and keep going on with what you can. Maybe there is one or two friends along the road, but they turn out to be fake. If they are real then it feels like its just a fairytale, that is going to end soon. And there it happens. It ends right before your eyes.
No matter if you are an outcast, the most popular person in the whole entire world, alien, Scooby doo, it doesn’t matter. You always need to be yourself. Don’t let other people influence you. Sure sometimes you don’t have control over what people make you do, but somehow you could always be yourself. If you are by yourself in school.. Then be by yourself. Prove to everyone that you can think, be, believe the saying, " ME, MYSELF, AND I". Prove that you don’t need anyone by your side, and you can fight your battles and be strong and stand up for yourself. Of course at one point your going to feel overwhelmed. You'll know when that moment is because that feeling is like you cant take it anymore and you just brake down crying. And that's alright. When that happens, make sure that you don’t end up being stupid, with committing suicide, and go to a grown up that you can trust, and tell them what's going on. You don’t have to tell them everything, just what your feeling (at the moment). That would be the best choice to do.
