A First Time for Everything

“Everything I knew about the world happened in Camarillo.”

Dan’s worldview is limited before his trip to Europe begins. This is the primary reason why his mother is concerned for him as he grows up and why she therefore pushes him to go on the trip; she wants him to experience independence and broaden his perception of life, developing the theme of Discovering the Independent Self.

“Suddenly, being a kid felt stressful. You learned that the best way to survive was to keep a low profile.

I became quiet.

Small.

I wanted to be invisible.”

Dan admits that he spent all of middle school trying to avoid embarrassment and pain. After a few profoundly negative experiences, Dan closed himself off from the world. This thematically helps introduce The Impact of First-Time Experiences and speaks to Dan’s strong and lasting response to being bullied by classmates in school.

“I’d like to report a murder. There were about 700 witnesses.”

Dan uses hyperbole to express the sheer horror and humiliation he felt when he was made fun of during his speech. This moment helped shape Dan’s perception of himself and the world, and only by leaving the environment for something new did he finally begin to assert his independence and learn to ignore negative input, which thematically develops Overcoming Fear to Live in the Moment.