The way we laughed...

9 April 2025: This afternoon I met with one of my favorite students, who I'll just call J., to talk about his capstone paper. It's a big, complicated, and smart project about Catcher in the Rye and Go Tell It on the Mountain, specifically about how their protagonists are able to move through the world (or not). 

I haven't read the Baldwin novel, so I was relying on him explaining it to me. Discussing how both protagnoists perform masculinity or are challenged about how well they are doing it, I tried to echo back what I thought he was saying. I said something like, "And that's harder for John because...well, Holden's biggest problem there is that he's kind of a...nerd? But John--he's gay..."

J. responded, "Exactly! I mean, I'd rather be a nerd than gay..."

There's a bit of a pause and I realize we are both thinking it. J. finishes his thought, "But I'm both!" 

The way we laughed! "I wasn't gonna say it," I tell him.

I just adore this kid. He's bright, funny, kind, and so unapologetically himself.