Raising Bumblebees
Mommy and daddy raised me to be a butterfly
But when I broke out of my cocoon
They were met with yellow and black stripes
I was a bumblebee
Since the minute I moved to a mountain town
As the little girl whose parents spoke broken English
As the little girl who didn't know why she was different
As the little girl with the glasses who tried so hard in classes
That she skipped second grade
And laid her life on the line for middle school geometry
And later joined all the teams
But still never quite fit in
I've always been that bumblebee
It's been 17 years since my first breath
But now I'm trying to breathe new life into me
Ap Gov, Ap Physics, Ap Calc
Hey, please, look past test results and high school scores
I voted for an appeal to truly be me
Accelerated from thoughts of med school to a business degree
I'm the girl who integrated herself with idiosyncrasy
I saw the world from a different perspective
Chose a drama elective over a Bio credit
Saved myself the trouble of double the notes
And made a note to follow my dreams
My classmates paid for summer college at Harvard
But I found a heart for UT Austin's speech and debate camp
And a passion in forensics
No, no, no, not like CSI
More like, see, as I, show you my knowledge of the latest Chinese elections
Erect a speech with no preparation
Mention an opinion on the NSA
I can talk about gender roles for 10 minutes straight
Two plus two equals
Prioritizing the perfect five
All my life I've heard whispers of
Prestige
Ivy League
Top Ten
Pick up your pen
Teachers told me to write in pencil so I could correct my mistakes
I insisted on ink and paid in broken college essays
B, A, C, I never felt like the letters could arrange themselves properly
The right way wasn't my way
So this time around, I've created a new array
Essays have always seemed boring to me anyway
I may not know how to build a PC
But I can create an acrylic masterpiece
I can dance on stage and memorize lines
Spit rhymes into a microphone
I love being a bumblebee
Still, schools just seem to ignore the rest
All they see are the results of my last test
Forget the paintbrushes, the pictures, the mic
Light those poems on fire
Because we're spitting med students and lawyers
But your honor, I object
To rule 36 ACT
I've played with bullets
And I'll pull the trigger on another stereotypical student
You know what I'm like
But do you really know me?
I can debate my way into your heart
I can show you the art I've formed through spoken word poetry
I can give you a real glimpse into this girl I call me
I'll never have the beautiful wings and radiant colors that everyone expected
But what did they expect from a 18 year old comp-sci studying, art loving, New York born, Mexican hispanic community raised, diversity-glazed, first-year college junior?
You've leafed through stacks of butterflies
But I hope you'll remember the bumblebee