Hello, I am Kit. Everyone has something about them that they want to find relatable, but when reading, it can be hard to find characters who are relatable. As an English major, I found that some of the most famous classic books have characters that could be considered relatable, but they are hidden behind inaccessible language. Take Mr. Darcy, he is described as an awkward man, but could that just be a neurodivergent in him? When reading these classic books, I liked to look for traits that could bring the modern age of diagnoses to the classic characters. While doing this, I was using my research skills to find out how psychologists diagnose people with mental disorders, like autism and depression. It led me to believing while we couldn’t actually diagnose fictional characters, maybe we could give a theory that would make them more relatable. In my portfolio, I have essays that cover the classics like Jane Eyre and the world of Jane Austen. I also have other essays that might not talk directly about characters with mental disorders, but they do talk about characters who are relatable, like those of The Undeclared Major and the boy who didn’t want to follow the dreams laid out by his father. All of these essays helped me to understand that kids just want a place to see themselves in. I mean, that’s what I wanted, and that’s why I turned to reading as a way to escape and meet characters who understood how I thought. Characters like Richard Gansey the 3rd in The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and Grace Wolfe in Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith. While both of these books are fantasy, they show the real world through a lens that I can relate to. Both characters are just teenagers trying to find their place in the world and how they can be of the most use to it. I want to give children a way to access books where they are reading what they want to and how much they want to. But I also want them to broaden their horizons by giving them the classics that can help them learn about different cultures. Teaching would allow me to bring my knowledge to the future generation.
