On Wednesday January 30th, actor and poet Mykee Fowlin came to Manville High School. He brought up many topics about the society today. He asked the students if they remember in 1st grade when their teachers gave everyone a paper with the same animals on it, but one was different. The teacher then instructed the students to cross out the one that was different. The teachers did not realize the lasting effect this would have; overtime, students mimic this idea in real life by crossing out others who were not alike or different than themselves. ‘’One of this things are not like the other,’’ Mykee stated. He voiced that students were taught from a young age how to cross people out and not talk to people if they are not like themselves.

Mykee proceeded to tell an anecdote about a time when he went to a Japanese restaurant. There, he noticed that none of the teacups had handles. When he asked the waiter why the teacups did not have handles, the waiter told him that if the tea is too hot to hold, then it’s too hot to drink. The handles are what keeps people away. Society, media, even history could all be viewed as handles that keep people at a distance.

Then, Mykee began to play different characters that talked about different problems in the world. On character was a male that went to Rutgers. This character’s purpose was to show how two wrongs don’t make right. The character talked about a situation when he did what he wanted to do, instead of doing what he had to do and he learned from it. Mykee highlighted this in a story of a time when one of his friends was making fun of a girl at their school and the girl stood up for herself and yelled at him and his friend. Then, the he realized that he was wrong for not standing up to his friend for the girl and was being a bystander.

The last topic that Mykee talked about was pain comparing it to lemonade.‘’Invite others in to share your lemonade,‘’ he exclaimed. He expressed that people should use their pain as a gift and as their power to help someone else. He also spoke about paying attention to ourselves and each other. Someone can be having a really bad day and if someone just gives them a simple smile, it can change their whole day completely.
Overall, Mykee Fowlin message moved Manville High School with his powerful performance through the incorporation of relatable characters.