Statement of Perspective

I’m a seventeen-year-old girl who has lived most of her life on the edge of different circles—family, culture, school, faith, close enough to hear the music, not always sure where to stand. I wrote this because belonging has felt less like a place and more like a quiet hum I keep chasing. Some days I’m the extra chair pulled up to a crowded lunch table; other days I’m the girl walking the long way to class so I don’t have to guess where to sit. I’m the oldest daughter, a bridge at home and a translator between friend groups, trying to be a “thread in a woven seam” without pulling too hard on either side.

The poem is my reminder that the chorus is bigger than any solo. I’m learning that I don’t have to choose one voice to matter; I can be many notes and still be whole. Belonging shows up in small, ordinary ways, hands doing dishes together, shared earbuds on the bus, breath syncing during a hard laugh. If you’ve ever felt too much or not enough, I hope this helps you hear your own name in the world’s soft humming. We’re not lost; we’re mid-melody, finding where we were meant to fit all along.