My name is Brendan. This is my coming-of-age story. I was born in New York and grew up in an apartment near the George Washington Bridge. Early on, my mom took me to many different extracurricular activities such as soccer, gymnastics, wrestling and singing classes. The most recent of these were improv classes, which two of my friends attended with me. I found that I never really enjoyed any of the extracurricular activities, except for improv and soccer somewhat. The two that I hated the most were the singing and wrestling classes.  The singing classes were so restrictive and often there wasn’t really anything to do except sit and wait…

We read a book about a married couple and haunted house. We talked about autoethnography and how it connects people yet shows their differences. We made notes about random topics.

This week we did some readings and discussions. We read the work “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and discussed the morality of the characters. We also talked about the process of ethnography and how it is impossible to stay unbiased.

This week we got accustomed to the way the classes work, and we read some poems about hardship.

During the night when I close my eyes there is a thought that occasionally floods my mind. In the night when my other thoughts are quiet, I sometimes think of the fate we are all cursed with. I worry myself thinking of my end, when it will happen, and what it will entail. I worry that, after all I am is no longer a part of this world, my memories and self will cease to be.