What Is Freedom?

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Mary Grayson Nix
WHGC
Professor Mauch
May 12, 2010

Searching for Freedom
Growing up in small, southern town full of old, conservative traditions, I was always told what I should believe, how I should think, and how I should act, but I was never told why.   Most people never questioned those in authority about these things, but after some personal experiences in my early middle school and high school years, I began to rebel against everything I had been taught.   I longed for a   sense of freedom.   I wanted to be free from the teachers yelling at me down the hall to tuck in my uniform shirt.   I wanted to be free from looking like everyone else in our bland uniforms at school.   I wanted to be free from feeling trapped in a place full of kids trying to fit the status quo.   I tried so hard to reach out, but when I tried to speak out, I felt like no one heard my
voice.   For so long I wanted to feel as if I “belonged” there, but something always felt so wrong to me.   High school graduation couldn’t come soon
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enough.   Now, it was time for me to spread my wings and learn how to fly on my own.   It was time for me to breakaway.
I began my journey in Florida.   I stopped at a local diner for brunch, and a sweet lady named Janie Crawford sat down next to me.   She told me all about her life, including her late husband, Tea Cake.
“He done taught me the maiden language all over,” she told me.
Before she could explain herself, two men walked into the diner.   There were no open tables, but Janie and I had two seats open at our table, so we invited them to sit with us.   Their names were Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill.   I had already gotten some great insight from hearing Janie’s story, so I decided to get out my journal and ask all three of my new friends some questions.
Me:   “Well, this place is pretty crowded so we will probably be waiting here for our food for a while.   Do you mind if I ask you some questions?   Today I began traveling so that I can... [continues]

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