Blog #1

JD Wiener

In "I Once Was Miss America", Roxanne Gay opens up about how her childhood was impacted by a series called Sweet Valley High. This series of books gave her a fantasy life where she too was perfect, she too was popular and she too lived in the perfect society of "Sweet Valley". In reality though, she was far from the person she idolized and wanted to be, she was "cross eyed [...] shy and awkward [...] and had a bit of a buck tooth situation". She got made fun of by the popular kids that she wanted to fit in with and be like; but never let it get to her with these books still keeping her dream alive. She was living her perfect life through the books and never got down on herself, telling the kids that "she will be Miss America" one day. While the popular kids laughed at her and made fun of her thinking it could never be possible, she did it. Fast forward a few years and she never actually became Miss America, but she did escape her reality and accomplish her dream. As she received an Oscar, with her happy family and successful life she knew she had finally made it to "Sweet Valley", where everything is perfect.