October 30, 2007 - 5:22pm — JJ Express
Obstacles to Youth Activism
Hey guys -
As many wonderful people there are out there who are dedicated to helping youth and their projects - there are those who don't like to accept or believe that youth can make a difference.
For example, I once posted on the Massachusettes Art Institute's Job Board (at the staff's recommendation) for talented college art students to try working with JJ Express. I got many friendly students, but one student after hearing about my project in detail wrote an angry email back saying that I had posted a "misleading" posting and that since I was "only 16 years old" I must only be in middle school and that there are "plenty of school publications that you can get involved in if you want to be published." Basically, he indicated that a magazine was a huge endeavor and that he didn't think a "middle-schooler" should be taking it on.
Well - I wasn't a middle schooler at the time, I was a junior in high school because I had skipped a grade. Furthermore, so what if I was a middle-schooler? It's not like I told everyone on the post that I was some professional who was willing to pay big bucks. Maybe he felt a little humiliated that he was emailing a "middle schooler" asking if he could illustrate for her publication.
I was tempted to write an angry email back and point out all the mistakes in his email, but I didn't. I ignored his email and moved on with my project.
Have you ever had anybody who didn't believe you could do it? What did you do? What about some amazing people who totally believed in you one hundred percent? Rants and raves here!