In the narrative essay "Indian Education," Alexie brings us into the life of Junior Polatkin. In this narrative, Alexie talks about the hardships of Junior's life growing up as an outcast that differed from the community he lived in. In the narrative, Junior Polatkin struggles growing up because he was different from the rest of the white community he went to school with. Throughout his life, Alexie shows what it was like for him to grow up as an Indian and the diversity there was between him and his peers. It shows the reader how being an Indian affects many of the different aspects in his life and how it really has a toll on him. Due to his circumstances, there are many times in which the child acts out just because of how much the diversity affects him. For instance, in second grade Junior acted out: "For Halloween I drew a picture of her riding a broom with a scrawny cat on the back." (305).As he grows up there are many instances when people single him out and pick on him because he is different from the rest. As Alexie takes us through his life growing up, it reminds me of when I was growing up as an individual that is different from the rest. As an adolescent growing up could be rough especially if you're different from the rest; Even though it often causes one to act out, misbehave, and hardships things seem to always get better.
Growing up, I was never extremely well behaved. I was always different from the rest of the kids I grew up with. I had ADD so I had troubles paying attention during class. As a child going to a catholic school, the curriculum was a little more difficult and more demanding. Because I couldn't always have the focus I needed to focus for my school work, I would misbehave and do random things during class. This is the point in my life that I was singled out the most. Almost my whole life teachers didn't understand what I was going through and would punish me for something I feel I couldn't control rather than helping me to understand.
