With Summer School going on, my brain hasn't had a moment to stop working all analytically and crap. Especially since I'm an English major, I like to say I've been traumatized by class to the point where I analyze everything I do and read like if I were writing a paper.

It sounds kind of sad, but I guess this helps me travel through this dark world.

I'm currently taking two classes, and one of my classes has been making me read really weird pieces that involve monsters, aliens and other sorts of "freaks." In this class, we analyze all types of monsters and argue what modern issues they represent regarding race, gender, and disabilities. I fear that by the end of this course, I won't be able to read a book with monsters without wondering just what issue this monster can be referencing in our world.

It's an interesting class, I'm not complaining, but all these monster reading has really had me thinking lately.

The concept of monsters is an interesting one, one that can mean many things. For class I had to read a book that posed this question: what differentiates a monster from something monstrous?

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It's a rather interesting question because both terms are subjective. (It amazes me how everything is more subjective than objective — social construct hahaha; either way!) Let's look at Monsters Inc for example. In this world of monsters, kids are the ones that are feared. They are the monster of their world; the nightmare from their dreams. Kids turn out to be the monstrous creation that can ignite fear in all of these creatures who work in scaring kids.

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It's ironical, scaring the thing that scares you. But from here we can see that a monster isn't really a monster. What makes a monster a monster isn't the ugly horns, jagged teeth and claws and deformed body. A monster is a monster when it commits a monstrous deed.

Anyhow, monster may not be real, but the monsters we know are the production of our mind or the people we come to know.

Yes, a monster could be that toxic friend or partner. It could be that person you trust the most. It could be that friend who always supported you. It could be anyone. In this world full of fantasies and wishful thinking, the real monsters can sometibes be the people we walk alongside to.

Yes, a monster could also be that voice that you hear in your head telling you how much you suck at living, how you never do anything good, and how you will never be of value to anybody. But guess what, that intangible monster is W R O N G.

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Now this is not meant to discourage anybody. Or to insult anybody. I am just talking from the way I think. If anything, I want to make a wakeup call. It is summer, and we all want to enjoy it. But a good summer can be ruined by the monsters we aren't aware of. We need to identify them, slay them, and become the hero or heroine of our journey in life.