Your voice

Think of a character from your own cultural background. Figure out their basic characteristics: age, gender, education, marital status, social values. Write a creative piece (fiction/poem) in their voice. How do they sound? How does their 'background’ manifest in their voice? 

I set out a little descriptor for this character for myself as well as what it had above. 

Name: Meliton Tailor

Age: 20

Gender: male

Education: current University student (science) 

Marital status: single

Social values: socially liberal (women have rights, LGBTQ+ people have rights, immigrants have rights, etc.) Economically conservative (wants there to be lower taxes, no big government spending, etc.)

University

When they said that they were going to go to University, so many people had an opinion

“Why are you just now enrolling into University?” 

“You won't be with people your age”

“You'll be stuck in school your whole life!” 

These are people that didn't really care about him in the end but still wanted to voice their opinion on whether or not he should go to university. 

“Could ya let me live?” He wanted to scream out, but he just had to deal with it because he'd already been dealing with it.

Throughout life, he had just did stuff for other people, making other people happy and not himself, so by having this opportunity to finally study something he actually cares about, he’s been accepted at university and it’s a crowning achievement. 

He’s the first person to go to university in his family, his mother dropped out in year 10 due to the difficulties she had (moving school), his father attended a trade school and while he likes to mention that he did go to university, he only went for an exam. His grandparents only finished primary school, they couldn’t afford high school and higher education but he wasn’t too sure, considering his maternal grandparents are both from England. 

The town he lived in was a moderate size, around ten thousand people and it wasn’t like an “everyone knew everyone and their business” type of town, but you see the faces of people you went to high school with, someone who you would call a friend, become a ghost to you. Now that a majority of his time is spent in the city, he feels like he’s not at all connected with his town. Though you’d flee if your town was a burial grounds of all the old people you come face to face with. 

Coming home from work, his mother hugs him tight, wrapping her arms around his chest. She stands at a few inches from him, he certainly inherited the height of her, but he wasn’t really complaining. 

“Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!” She says it with a large smile on her face, giving him another hug, he laughs at her comment and her hugging. 

“Thanks, Mum, tha-thanks!” He says trying to get out of the hug, but she has a very tight grip on him. 

Moments later she finally releases him out of the tight embrace, and he is able to slink out of it. Making his way to his room to retrieve his phone, he brings up the email, a few congratulatory Facebook messages pop up. 

“I’ll leave them ‘till later,” he says to himself, making his way back to his mum. “Hear this Mum!” He recalls to her as she begins to turn her computer on. 

The email itself spoke about the course and the important dates, but more importantly, it told him ‘Congratulations on getting here!’, he wipes away the budding tears. 

“We know you had to sidetrack you there for a moment, but look at you, you go into your dream study! I am so proud of you! Regardless of how old you are, you are never too old to learn!” His mum mentions giving him another hug. He sobs into her shoulder. 

“Thank you, thank you,” he keeps repeating, a smile on his face, one she had never seen before. 

The newly accepted university member told many of his online friends, all of them congratulating him. He smiles at their comments. 

captainrogers: i’m still shocked i got in tbh!

privatebarnes: proud of you, i really am!

captainrogers: i guess that means we can finally meet huh? 

Private Barnes (obviously not their real name) is a friend of his, they met online when he was 12. Of course, they’ve exchanged social media accounts over the years and would skype and use Tinychat (a service for webcams), so he hasn’t met a serial killer. His friend attends the same university, finishing their high school degree in hopes to get accepted elsewhere. 

Though University was going to be different, and he knew that he knew that very well that things were going to be different, unlike high school or tafe. But a bachelor in science, that was new. His brother was quite artistic, the writer, the drawer, whereas he was all about science. 

“How are you going to go? Uni?” His brother asks him. 

“Bus, train,” he responds, as he lazily types in his information in the university. His brother laughs at the silly joke. 

“Yeah but, I mean, not transportation wise, you know what I mean!” 

“I know, I know,” he says in between chuckles. “I think I’ll be okay, I’ve just got to apply myself, so here’s hoping that I do that!” 

“It’ll be okay, Mum will cheer you on!” 

“Yeah, she will won’t she?” 

His brother nods his head as he leaves the room. 

“I wonder how I’d read stuff on public transport, but ugh,” he begins talking to himself looking at the textbooks he has to buy, “of course, I haven’t even thought about that!” He puts his hands on his face and groans slightly, “I’m too fuckin’ broke for this!” 

Maybe university was a bad idea.