I was taught that it’s not polite to talk about myself too much in front of other people, Walt Whitman, obviously had another idea about this.

The title of this poem is extremely misleading because the author writes this poem as if he’s “everything.” He represents, contains and is connected to everything. So essentially he’s celebrating everything throughout this 52-sections- long poem. He’s right, what’s not worth celebrating anyway?

“Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!”(24-5,6) Out of 52 sections, I like this sentence the most.  Somehow I saw “The Scream” by Edvard Munch in my head when I read this. Eleven years of Chinese schooling taught me to be humble, modest, and respectful. Teachers wanted us to be obedient and comply with the rules.( Now that I think of this, it’s quite reasonable because when you have 60 kids in one class, things could get really messy.) Countless examinations and tests numbed our interests for every subject. We are tamed, indifferent, and cynical.  “Go to school, get a good grade, try to graduate ASAP and get a good job. Then buy a house, get a car, marry a good girl and start your own family” is my parents’ plan for me. I loathe every single bit of it. I don’t want to get sucked in this vicious circle and I am working on finding a way out of it.

BMCC was the first college that I attended. I spent one semester there then got transferred to Baruch. I had just changed my major even though I had already taken some intermediate accounting class. I was so lost. People say accounting is a really solid major that will get you a job. I didn’t know what I really want so I went for it. After a year of studying I realized it’s not for me, nope, absolutely not. So I followed my heart, and changed it to finance. And now I am happy and resplendent like the noonday sun just like Raj in the BigBangTheory.

Fanliang Cen