It is common knowledge that for every teenager of any generation there is always a band that makes their youth bearable. Today’s generation might cite One Direction or 5 Seconds of Summer in the future while people older than me may choose Queen. When I was a teenager I became a rock chick, with the band that helped me was Canadians, Simple Plan. Listening to the songs, as today I realise that I was a teenager that needed someone to express my thoughts, they were that band; however it is funny because even today I still play them, enjoy their old stuff and their new stuff. Sure it is not the same as the old but all bands evolve and change. I will always buy their music because after everything I have been through – Simple Plan were there from the start.
When I was in school I was the loner, never had any friends. To try and rectify it the school tried creating a group called ‘ Tansy’s Circle of Friends’ which would do meditation and activities in hope that I wouldn’t feel so alone when they ignored me at lunchtime. In year 9 I changed schools because as time went by the teachers not only told my mother and I that it wasn’t their fault because they had ‘problems at home’, they joined in and wouldn’t pass me in some subjects because I couldn’t do the work because of my disability. I was that kid that Simple Plan sing of in I’m Just A Kid, I was alone with no friends of my own, seen as the weak link in any chain that they had to deal with.
Welcome To My Life, was my ringtone at my new school – with who I thought were friends, were in fact were holding a knife in their hand while patting me on the back with the other one. They told me for 6 months that this guy liked me, and because I was shy they would help me talk to him by passing notes; only for them to explain their true intentions that they wanted to make me the scapegoat and see how far they could take it. It got a little better when the kids that stood up for me at my old school told the new kids not to fuck with me. As usual the guys of both towns blended and got on well. The females; however, thought it was a turf war and when one from my new school bagged a friend of mine, who was also my cousin, I knew which side I rather have been associated with. I knew that I had to go to Melbourne
I knew that I had to go to Melbourne, not just to prove to everyone who thought I couldn’t but more so to prove to myself that I could. I moved into a Christian student residence that provided meals and bed as well as a community to begin my life in the city. To begin with it was a wonderful place to start, but that didn’t stop me from noticing the little things. Over time things became worse, it started as little remarks to blatantly wondering why I wasn’t religious despite all that I have been through. Also pressuring me to find a boyfriend or they were convinced I would die lonely, among other things. By the end of my time at the residence I have rather been Anywhere Else But Here. During my time there I even did a Melbourne International Comedy Festival about my bullying experience including the residence. I talked about my schools, teachers and the students – yet all they saw was the residence and the manager of the residence said I was in the wrong – when he didn’t even see the show.
It was during this time that I knew that I was over my Ordinary Life. I got into the comedy industry further, starting to see that the people I had been searching for all my childhood where The Rest Of Us in the industry of laughter. There were who would have been considered freaks, geeks, confused, losers and loners, the dreamers and some of the most intelligent, brightest minds that I have know. I have laughed, cried, had my mind opened and developed values through these shows.
Now in 2015 – I am back where I started, my hometown. I am wiser, smarter and more determined then I have ever been before. I know that I have true friends and no matter what the distance between us, they are always there. My community scatters all over the world for most of the year but comes together in Melbourne for 4 weeks to prove that laughter is the best medicine. Whatever I have been going through, I can relate to one of Simple Plan’s songs, now looking back I am not sad that it happened I am thankful. My life is worth all those years of uncertainty and One By One, not only have I proved them wrong. I have obliterated their expectations.
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