Sam Dyson

Ms. Blandford
09/14/2015
UWRT1101 Differences

Differences
From the pencil to the paper, we can express our thoughts and let our ideas flow.
Everyone writes differently because everyone is different. There are no two exact people in the
universe, one could argue identical twins are the closest example, but even identical twins have
different dreams and personalities. I may only be 18 years old but in my lifetime alone Ive came
across people from all different places of the world who think differently based on where they
are from and act differently based on past cultures that their homeland considered normal. The
word normal, means ordinary in some cases, in other views its perceived as average. No matter
how different someone is from you doesnt mean that we should judge them or treat them any
different than we would to be treated.
In Go Carolina, by David Sedaris we are introduced to kid who suffers from a speech
impediment, and his teacher advertises his lisp to the class. When he is first called to speech class
he wonders why he was selected. He compares himself to a suspect, and his speech teacher to an
agent who is trying to arrest him. He wonders why none of the other students in his class get
called. David is already cynical when he gets called to attend a speech class to try and help him
with his lisp. In my opinion, David was surprised when hes asked with question, who do you
like better State or Carolina. He truly never cared for sports and always acted like he did
because what boy in elementary school doesnt like sports. In fact it tells you hes very unsure of

who he is when he always responds to the question by asking the speaker who they prefer and
replying, Me too.
He begins to find himself in the differences that he has with the normal boys. The
differences he has put him in a whole different mindset after noticing them. David gets the idea
that all boys in speech class are the future homosexuals of America. His teachers make them feel
out of place, as if at the end of the year that they should celebrating for fitting in. I think that at
the end of the year David had found out he was gay. The differences that he had with the other
people who came to his speech class helped him come to face his homosexuality. This doesnt
mean he should be disrespected, bullied or anything, hes just different and he learns to accept
himself.
All people are different, David sees that very earlier when he finds out he is gay. Due to
him seeing differences in people at such a young age, that year of school he probably matured
more than anyone else in his class. In my opinion, he matured enough to understand that no two
people are exactly the same and people have their differences, and he respects everyone.
Think about it this way, even if at that moment he wasnt gay, his experience in his
speech therapy sessions could have been one of the contributing factors that helped him
acknowledge that he was gay. That experience over the course of time played a vital role in
determining his sexuality. When David told the reader he was homosexual, its seems that he put
himself into a vulnerable state of growing up. However although one may not agree with
homosexuality, it doesnt mean that society should look down on an individual who is different.
Differences make us who we are, he may not have realized this at such a young age, however he
did understand a lot more than most kids his age. His thoughts and ideas may have seemed a

little radical but he was just finding himself and theres nothing wrong with that. In thought,
when a person truly finds himself, it makes it easier for that person to respect everyone.