Growing up in Texas, the morals and widespread beliefs throughout the state have always been traditional and conservative. An aspect of my identity that has impacted me substantially is the fact that I am biracial. My mother is white, and my father is black. Being biracial in a vastly conservative state was a complicated way of life to navigate. The way in which public schools are set up in this country lays the groundwork for cliques to form easily and largely based on race. For many biracial students, it can be hard to fit in with either group and feel as though they are not “enough” of a certain race to fit in. This has affected the way that I read and interpret literature in the sense that when a character writes about not fitting in with a certain group, I can immediately relate to it. When I was reading the article, I immediately related to Matt de la Pena in “Tough Teen” when he wrote that “…the confusion I sometimes felt about growing up racially mixed.” I also related to him when he spoke about students having creative outlets to deal with this, as music has always been a creative outlet for myself. Pena’s article was a direct reflection of the dynamics that I faced in highschool, and how creativity was often the only common thread that united everyone who was struggling.