Biography

Dr. Exile or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Politics

I am not able to give some awe-inspiring account of my experiences growing up in a third-world country or of my overcoming of adversity despite the many struggles in my life. I am a white, middle-class male, who grew up in suburbia Atlanta in the same town that his ancestors helped found hundreds of years ago. Other than sports awards, the honor of Eagle Scout, and an International Baccalaureate Program Diploma, few aspects of my life really help stand me out among others my age. At first glance, I am essentially one of the pack, in no way exhibiting any sign of exile. 

Digging deeper, I still do not show signs of true, complete exile, although lesser aspects of it can be found. I would bet a fair amount of money that if you were to ask people from my high school to name one thing that stood me out among the rest, at least 99% of them would immediately point to my intense interest in politics and economics. After all, I was a favorite among the economics and business teachers for the simple fact that I could actually carry out an intellectual and informed debate on issues past and present. I always had a counter-argument ready whenever another student stated something I disagreed with. Of course, this didn’t always sit well with some people. 

In several instances in high school, various people told me that they had hidden my posts on Facebook simply because they did not want to ever see anything about politics or economics online. Although these events did not bother me (I try to never take anything personal), I realized that some people simply could not care less about the issues that govern our world. I also realized that I should try to hold back some of my comments when around people that just did not want to talk about politics. Essentially, I was exiling part of myself from certain people. 

As I noted earlier, I have never experienced any full instances of exile, but I have had scaled-down versions. In the sense of exile being of a person being banned from an area, I was not banned from talking about politics. I only saw it necessary to hold back most of it when around certain people. I guess you could say that experience is not really exile since I did not actually suffer from it, but then you would be taking away the topic for my biography essay. Please do not misunderstand this though, I have still had a fun and adventurous life, just not with the adversity or intense struggles that many others have had. 

My name is Michael Camp, and I did not escape the Soviet Union or migrate from town to town across South America in search of food and water.