Something that both texts have in common are that both, Jose Olivarez, and Stephon Hobson, struggled with challenges of their own. Jose states that he always felt that he didn’t belong anywhere, either in the US and Mexico. On the other hand, Stephon states how he was always influenced by gangs which led him to be incarcerated for 3 years. Both Jose and Stephon illustrated their main points by explaining what led them to their choices. For example, Jose faced with his inner demons and decided to do something about it. Jose needed a way to express himself and that was with his writing, it was the way that helped him shift his relationship with education and power. He ultimately started mentoring writers where they would help, learn, and criticize each other in a safe environment. Jose wrote poems that saved him throughout his childhood with the idea to also make someone else feel comfort. While Stephon struggled with reading at a young age, he avoided participating in any class. Throughout time, he began to utilize what he’d learned in school. Those skills helped him find characteristics in books which then he stared applying for himself. Because Stephon was influenced by gangs, he needed to adjust to violence and the burden of being away from his family, although he adjusted those changes with negative behavior. As a result, Stephon decided he wanted to steer to a new direction, he began to expand and apply his education to find for a career that will help fulfill his capacity. He started off as an EMT Paramedic and eventually had a passion for nursing. If it weren’t for his life experiences in the past, he wouldn’t be where he is now.

Important Quote: “I wanted to write poems that confronted the questions I felt as a teen. I wanted to write poems in a way that might give a young person in similar circumstances some comfort.”

Sometimes we need to be able to find the things that will help us overcome our inner demons. In this case, Jose states how wrote poems to help him have a better understanding of the questions he had as a teen. He wants to be able to connect with his audience and make them feel like they’re not alone and there are other people who’ve gone through the same thing.

.Share any response you have to the student comments. Can you relate to something a fellow City Tech student articulated?

I feel like I can relate to the fact some students pointed out that because you’re from a different race, in America they associate you with the country you’re from but when you go back to home country they associate you as an American. Almost everyone was born here but their parents weren’t. People believe that you can’t do certain things but that’s not true, we tend to work extremely hard to have the life that we want, and we deserve. Olivarez really made others be able to connect and relate to his book and it’s crazy to think about because it’s something that everyone tends to hold back and to have a book that states what it was like to not fit in, was extremely comforting.