I walked to my first lecture of the day, it was around eight in the morning which was the most beautiful, peaceful time of the day. The sun beamed down on my dark complexion but not too much as though I’d be sweating, it was just perfect. The scent in the air was so calming and refreshing.

My name is Taye, I am a kind-hearted, friendly, spirited soul. I love decorating, planning, photography and nature. I do not take anything for granted and I love my family more than anything.

Some people may wonder how and why I am so happy and calm this early in the morning and on my way to a three-hour lecture at school at the same time. I would tell them it is because I am so grateful for what I have, I do not hate it here what so ever. I am so happy to be able to afford the schooling I have and can finally do what I love, which is photography.  

I strolled into my lecture with the biggest smile on my face and sat in my usual seat a few rows up from the first row of the class. It was a huge room and every day I am so amazed to be here.

My family was never the wealthy type, we grew up in a small town and I never had more then two full outfits and we usually had the same thing for dinner every night, if anything. So that is why being here is amazing.

The school I go to is the only one in our town, it was just built last year and it is amazing that it is still running since a lot of students can’t even afford to get in or attend at all, they usually stay home to tend to their siblings when the parents pass away and start families of there own. Not me. I want to be one of the few students in this town who goes off to do big things and fortunately, I think I just might.

I noticed I started succeeding more than the other students around me when I immediately got a job once I turned 14. I knew a friend who’s dad run a landscaping business and I asked if I could help out, I turned out to be really good at it (for my age) and they started paying me. It was a little more than minimum wage and for me, it was a lot of money to use for food, clothing and shelter. I ended up buying my mom a new home to live in with my siblings, it wasn’t great but a lot better then what we were living in before! My dad passed away when I was really young so I have always been the ‘man’ of the house.

After a few more years of work I realized I had enough saved to go to college. I didn’t have the best grades but applied anyways. I prayed every night that I’d get in, and I did! To the program, I wanted too!  I always had a passion for cameras and taking pictures but I never knew I could make a living out of it until I read up on some flyers handed out to us at school about the new college.

And that leaves me here, in this college classroom, listening to the professor talk about angles and lenses as students sleep or groan. But for me, I listen, and am content with where I am and I can’t wait to see where I go next.

The book Anthem by Ayn Rand is one you may have never heard or read before but need too. 

“Ayn Rand, born named: Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum was a Russian-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and philosopher. She is known for her two best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand).

Ayn was an overall important woman in history and it was shown clearly through her writing. I am really inspired by writing from history and how it can still be relevant today. Ayn’s writing was so inspirational and insightful that we are still reading her novels today and learning from them, even though she is not here anymore – now that is something to live up too. 

Even though Anthem was not one of her most popular novels it was still a great one. I had gotten recommended this book by my grade 11 English teacher and I decided to give it a read since it was a fairly short novel and seemed very interesting. 

The story is a dystopian fiction novella and it takes place at a very unspecific future date when mankind has entered what they call a dark age. This is what makes the novel so interesting and makes you never want to put it down because you are reading to find out more about the setting but the plot lacks much detail about it since it is mostly unknown. In the novel, technological advancement is very carefully planned and the concept of ‘individuality’ is not a thing. Imagine not being unique and in a place where everyone is the exact same as you! The story mainly focuses on a young boy known as ‘Equality 7-2521’ (all characters had weird techy names like this) rebels and is the only one who dares to be unique by doing forbidden scientific research. When what he has been doing is discovered he eventually runs away from this city into the wilderness to end up with the love of his life who they end up planning a new society based on Equality’s research on rediscovered individualism as the other place he lived was lacking so and he knew how sad and boring it was. 

I know what you are thinking, this book sounds cheesy and ends up like every other novel where the boy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. But, nope. I just gave a quick summary wherein the novel there is a lot more to it and he doesn’t find this ‘girl’ so easily. You just may need to read it to find out! It is a ‘sitting on the edge of your seat’ kind of book but yet at only about 100 pages which makes it easy to read and get caught up in without all the extra boring plot and useless storyline which can make some books get boring!  

Song that links to novel

The song linked above reminds me so much of this novel, it has such a dystopian vibe and the different beats, and drops in instruments remind me of the different parts of this novel. Such as when Equality is running away from the city of no individuality and into the wilderness to create his own new, happy life and you feel his emotions while reading of joy and how nice it must be to finally be getting away from that sad life. You feel the same emotions in this song when it goes from being sad and slow to very upbeat and fast.

I’d like to curl up in my warm bed with a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate and read this book. Occasionally with soft music in the background to relax me as I read.