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Essay: "Fitting In"

by Teddy Leslie
This topic truly brings back strong memories of my childhood but, at the same time, it brings me to my current position.

When I was in my teenage years growing up in Philadelphia my area was majority Irish, and as they say "majority rules". So, with that, the street toughs were in a constant struggle for turf superiority in the neighborhood.

I personally fell into the grind of the "turf wars", and as a result the violence bred me to be considered a threat to the mainstream society and the laws that the elders before my time had created.

Given the fact that I'm twenty-seven now and that I'm in prison for committing crimes against my own people, its hard to accept that it was all so that I could get accepted into a world of "street status", wasted talent all for trying to "Fit In".

So now I struggle to "Fit In" to the mainstream society that incarcerated me.

I believe that if I created a plan of goals towards making my life better, I may one day find my way, and be able to pass my skills onto a young Irish thug in my old neighborhood.

My calling is to fit in now. I once thought that it could only be achieved by becoming strong at heart but I have now found I only need to believe that I can change for myself. That to me is the true idea of "Fitting In".

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