West Florence High School: A Teenage Hell

  If you could ask a group of young individuals about their high school experience, a  large amount of those people would have less then pleasant things to say. I am no different from that majority. I went to high school in a small town in South Carolina, where people use their own religious beliefs as a tool of biggotry. There were always speculations about who and what I was as a person. I was a constant target for homophobia and racism from peers, teachers and family alike. for a long time in my high school life, I was an outsider to society. I was at a constant battle with myself at first and wasn't even sure if I knew what I was. eventually I grew tired of rumors and constantly being bothered and thought to myself "If they knew, maybe they'll leave me alone". I couldn't have been more wrong. I gained some respect and made true friends, but overall I couldn't handle high school anymore and dropped out.

The Power of Speech

While growing up, we are all introduced to a form of English that many in the professional world would consider to be "broken", however I like to call it casual. Without realizing, the words we say (and the way we say them) can prove to be harmful in the job searching process. Some people believe a person's usage of words is based on the environment of said individual. Many will argue that it's based solely on the language of a person's home environment, while others believe that it's based more on the social environment and the need to fit in with fellow peers. For me, I was a rebel against my family and hated their uneducated speech, but I never felt the need to talk exactly like my peers growing up. I decided to educate myself by reading "National Geographic" and watching nature documentaries, which helped me escape my own reality. I've noticed Casual English varies with every individual and mine just so happens to be a combination between what many in our society consider "broken" and "proper". Either way, in spite of the office environment's demand for a more formal use of words, I feel confident in my ability to quickly adjust and adapt. I've been reading and writing at a 12th grade level since I was in 4th grade. I do notice that sometimes I'll say something that's not exactly appropriate for the business world, but its a growth area I'm working on.