Shambhavi's Shells

       I've struggled a lot trying to find my own style, whether it be hair, clothing, accessories, or just the way I carry myself. When given a prompt in class about the different cliques seen around school, and having seen the class respond with jock, nerd, popular, and so on, I wondered if your clique truly defines your style.       To be a part of a clique is to be in " a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them." This definition doesn't state anything about fashion, instead, it's more about the interests that the clique shares. So why do we classify a clique based on appearance? Certainly not every guy who wears shorts and a hoodie in the dead of winter is a "jock", and neither are all the girls with branded clothing the "popular girls".       I've been a part of multiple friend groups and cliques, but those groups never had a speci

        A mother left her child all by himself in a world that seems to not be meant for him. He is seen as an alien by not only his peers, but even his own adoptive parents. “I can’t figure out how to act around him sometimes,” something no child would want to hear from their adoptive mother. We see the son grow up into becoming an alcoholic and gambling addict, but still trying to save his face, he seems to get better. While reading through the novel, I found myself constantly wondering what I would do if I was stuck in situations similar to Deming(the son) or Polly(the mother). Would I remain sane if my mother disappeared and never came back? Would I be able to save myself from a gambling addiction or alcoholism?      As humans we tend to believe that we would never end up in circumstances that Deming or Polly ended up in, "I'm smart enough, if my grade falls then I would work harder for it" or "If I became addicted to gambling I could pull myself out of it"