Anna Vahlenkamp

Born in Dystopia

I was born into a dystopia. Founded on others’ ideals and expectations. Following the roadway that was set up for me. My mind was melded into something it is not. My actions being controlled like a marionette. Any wrong step and I am looked at as a black sheep. The idea of a dystopian world is spoken of some sort of fiction in which we portray through books and movies. Zombies taking over, people fighting until death, and the colliding of a corrupt government. Though, I can not help but feel that we are already in a dystopian world. A world in which we praise white skin, give power to straight men, lift up those with money, bring down those with little, and take away any sort of imagination. The dream has already been built and how to get there is written. If you go against this box that was built for you, you go against the dream. This is a world in which we can not dream, but in which we can simply form into what we are meant to be. To go against it is to be seen as doing wrong because those who built it -- the white and the wealthy -- get uncomfortable in those who see right through it. Who see that there is more to it and that the color of their skin or the look of their bank accounts is not what creates this world. It is the people and we are here to fight for what is ours. To fight for our own beliefs in following our heart.