Any and all comments will be gratefully considered. :DD
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Prompt: How did you get Caught?
Tap tap tap. I heard my mother knocking loudly on my bedroom door, wanting to come in and grab some supplies. Quickly, I turned off my laptop's media player and switched my Internet tab to a random Wikipedia page. I breathed a sigh of cautious relief as my mother wafted in and back out without suspecting a thing. For a month now, I had been carefully hiding from my parents my newly discovered source of entertainment - Korean music, commonly known as "k-pop".
To me, k-pop was a relaxing and enjoyable way to expand my cultural horizons, but I felt I would become a social pariah if my passions were exposed to the world. I wasn't used to keeping secrets from my family, especially one involving something so seemingly innocuous. Yet I assumed that if my parents were to find out, they would label my new taste as an unhealthy obsession and ban me from it. I hadn't grown up with many Korean peers, and I feared that if my current friends and community members got wind of my actions, I would instantly be labeled as the awkward girl with bizarre taste. Thus, I chose to keep all things related to k-pop shut away in my room, only daring to deal with them when I was completely alone and there was a lesser risk of someone, anyone, waltzing in on my secret. Deep down, I yearned to share my newfound interest with others, but on the surface I was tangled in a self-spun web of restraint and embarrassment. For a while, I couldn't find my way out.
It was a gloomy Monday morning on which I was finally caught, and simultaneously released from my own trap. I had a PowerPoint presentation due that day in my ninth grade English class. As I rushed out of the house, I grabbed my back-up flash drive instead of my usual one - forgetting that I had placed a few Korean music files in it to safeguard them from prying eyes. When my teacher pulled up the data in my drive on the class projector, my first file folder popped up and the words "Korean Music" seemed to leap out of the screen, assaulting my eyes. I was mortified as I looked around the class to observe everyone's reaction. I can't believe this is happening. Some of my friends were staring in my direction with raised eyebrows, others were laughing good-naturedly, and the Korean kids looked especially surprised. There was what seemed like an infinite pause before I heard, "Hey, you listen to Korean music? ... That's pretty cool!"
For a moment, I was rendered speechless. All this time I had worried about a negative reception, a series of caustic insults - and they thought it was cool? To me, this reception was entirely unexpected and somewhat intimidating, but one that my mind hungrily devoured in a matter of seconds. After class many people came up to me, inquiring about my favorite Korean boy bands, the most recent drama I watched, and how I began my k-pop affairs. I was overwhelmed by the amount of genuine curiosity and excitement with which my peers approached my interest and me; I knew I wouldn't have to hide in shame any longer.
Getting caught five years ago was an eye-opening experience that has influenced how I act, think, and carry myself to this day. At the time, I had been crippled by my sense of dread, forcing myself to keep hidden that which I had a true passion for. Soon, I realized that I should never have to cover up my interests for the sake of being another sheep in the pack. My parents, although apprehensive when I first told them about the incident and my musical preferences, have learned to embrace the diversity I brought into our home. I have since ventured into many other cultural realms, and whether I am downloading Irish band Westlife's many albums, listening to my favorite Japanese rock bands, or watching weekly episodes of Bizarre World, I am no longer afraid to stand out and show everyone what I love. See, sometimes, getting caught is only a technicality on the path towards something more powerful - breaking free. And that's just what I have done.
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Prompt: How did you get Caught?
Tap tap tap. I heard my mother knocking loudly on my bedroom door, wanting to come in and grab some supplies. Quickly, I turned off my laptop's media player and switched my Internet tab to a random Wikipedia page. I breathed a sigh of cautious relief as my mother wafted in and back out without suspecting a thing. For a month now, I had been carefully hiding from my parents my newly discovered source of entertainment - Korean music, commonly known as "k-pop".
To me, k-pop was a relaxing and enjoyable way to expand my cultural horizons, but I felt I would become a social pariah if my passions were exposed to the world. I wasn't used to keeping secrets from my family, especially one involving something so seemingly innocuous. Yet I assumed that if my parents were to find out, they would label my new taste as an unhealthy obsession and ban me from it. I hadn't grown up with many Korean peers, and I feared that if my current friends and community members got wind of my actions, I would instantly be labeled as the awkward girl with bizarre taste. Thus, I chose to keep all things related to k-pop shut away in my room, only daring to deal with them when I was completely alone and there was a lesser risk of someone, anyone, waltzing in on my secret. Deep down, I yearned to share my newfound interest with others, but on the surface I was tangled in a self-spun web of restraint and embarrassment. For a while, I couldn't find my way out.
It was a gloomy Monday morning on which I was finally caught, and simultaneously released from my own trap. I had a PowerPoint presentation due that day in my ninth grade English class. As I rushed out of the house, I grabbed my back-up flash drive instead of my usual one - forgetting that I had placed a few Korean music files in it to safeguard them from prying eyes. When my teacher pulled up the data in my drive on the class projector, my first file folder popped up and the words "Korean Music" seemed to leap out of the screen, assaulting my eyes. I was mortified as I looked around the class to observe everyone's reaction. I can't believe this is happening. Some of my friends were staring in my direction with raised eyebrows, others were laughing good-naturedly, and the Korean kids looked especially surprised. There was what seemed like an infinite pause before I heard, "Hey, you listen to Korean music? ... That's pretty cool!"
For a moment, I was rendered speechless. All this time I had worried about a negative reception, a series of caustic insults - and they thought it was cool? To me, this reception was entirely unexpected and somewhat intimidating, but one that my mind hungrily devoured in a matter of seconds. After class many people came up to me, inquiring about my favorite Korean boy bands, the most recent drama I watched, and how I began my k-pop affairs. I was overwhelmed by the amount of genuine curiosity and excitement with which my peers approached my interest and me; I knew I wouldn't have to hide in shame any longer.
Getting caught five years ago was an eye-opening experience that has influenced how I act, think, and carry myself to this day. At the time, I had been crippled by my sense of dread, forcing myself to keep hidden that which I had a true passion for. Soon, I realized that I should never have to cover up my interests for the sake of being another sheep in the pack. My parents, although apprehensive when I first told them about the incident and my musical preferences, have learned to embrace the diversity I brought into our home. I have since ventured into many other cultural realms, and whether I am downloading Irish band Westlife's many albums, listening to my favorite Japanese rock bands, or watching weekly episodes of Bizarre World, I am no longer afraid to stand out and show everyone what I love. See, sometimes, getting caught is only a technicality on the path towards something more powerful - breaking free. And that's just what I have done.
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