Hopefully I will be the first who will express the gratitude for such a great site and awesome design.

My name is Donavan. though everyone calls me Dom. I live in LaPorte and live in an apartment. We're poor. we have nice things but it took us years to get em, know what I'm saying? Well, I don't like my mom, though she's not abusive. She always takes my brothers side and money that could go to a bank on reserve or for food she spends on other things. she had recently bought a electric fireplace. which i think is crap. My brother is an asshole. He doubts that I have friends, so he tries to make me friends. And, he lied to me that i wasn't allowed to go my recently related step-cousin, and I have been friends with him before we became related. He lies to me and says my cousin doesn't like me. And I also have problems at school. My school has a lot of rebels, and I am not excluded. In 7th grade i got into fights and was in ISS a lot. This year, I got suspended. Everyone I know classifies themselves as preps or whatnot. I am what everyone calls a "wigger". I have a lot of friends, but they're mostly at school. But, I am known around school as a great rapper. I'm trying to make into the biz. this might not be a place to tell my story, but I have to get this off my chest.

I hate my life but at least this makes it bearabe.

I love how he points out that writing poetry can automatically "reengage" you into your own life. He's right that it doesn't happen in the classroom a lot. I think that this self reflection on where you come from is unbelievably important. My family comes from the South, but I live in the Midwest. Where I come from (in terms of heritage or in terms of where I've lived) makes me different in both the Midwest and the South, respectively. This differentiation is what makes my story different from the very beginning.

I appreciate that there is someone in the world who stresses the importance of history, not enough people realize the impact that history has on all of our lives.

Oh. This was brilliant. I disagree about one thing. It's not that "we teach things that are boring," it's that we teach partial truths, and half-stories, and sometimes outright lies, when when should happen in schools is the evoking and encouraging of curiosity, and passion, and vision. And it sounds as though Mr. Coval is one of those rare teachers who understands this. Bravo.