I just felt being part of my peer group so strongly. I was immersed in teen culture, but not taken in by it.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I felt all the things that other teenagers felt. I was insecure in lots of ways, over-confident in others. I was very emotional. Excitable.
I saw myself as an outsider as a teen. I was home-schooled and got my G.E.D. when I was 16; I wasn't interested in high school at all and figured that college might be more entertaining.
I was a bit of a loner at school because I was into what I was into, that sort of scene; that is where the whole mod thing started, when I was 14-15.
Growing up, all I did was work and vacation, but I loved it, no one pushed me into anything. The thing was I developed no special skills. I don't have any resentment because I am a performer and I've always felt that, but it did take its toll socially.
The things that I draw on, and the world that I feel part of, aren't particularly youth culture.
In high school, I didn't always relate to my friends. I was more of a spectator.
I was raised with adults. I skipped knowing how to interact as a normal teenage person.
When I got near teen age, I was so happy with my friends and the African-American culture that I couldn't imagine not being part of it.
I was a little adult for my age as a teenager, and I didn't feel like I socially fit in with my peers.
As a teenager at high school, I felt like an outsider.