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Zelda host open mic

Friday, January 19, 2024 Youth Unleashed: A Look Back at the 2023 Open Mic Season Finale by Zelda Abramovich

Posted at 11:37h in JBWC Youth Ambassador Program, Just Buffalo Writing Center, Young Writers by

IMAGE: JBWC Youth Ambassador, Zelda, hosts our final open mic of 2023!

On November 28th, a wonderful group of almost 30 young writers, artists, and performers from Just Buffalo, GLYS, Teen Reality Theatre, and Dunbar Youth Theater Arts, kicked off the last JBWC Open Mic of the season with some incredible performances. As a Youth Ambassador, I had the privilege of hosting this amazing event and introducing a range of performances with everything from poetry to film. One of our most memorable performances was in the form of an article written for a school newspaper by Bekah. Titled “The Introvert’s Guide to Friendship,” this witty and honest guide not only made everyone laugh but also had me jotting down notes for future use! Read the piece below! In addition, we heard many deeply poignant poems written by Just Buffalo writers, guests, and my peers as youth ambassadors.

Many spoke to the healing power of the spoken and written word, and although sometimes we may not be in a position to change our situation, we can use poetry, prose, and art to process and move on. While this session was the final open mic of 2023, it was also a night of firsts. Special guests from the Dunbar Youth Theater Arts program sang, for the first time, a song from their upcoming showcase, and a poet not only shared their work with an audience for the first time but also kicked off our night by being the first to read! We’re excited to continue our open mic series in 2024 right here at the Writing Center. As always, we welcome all young artists to come down and share your stories, creations, and writing.

Bekah reading “The Introvert’s Guide to Friendship” at her first JBWC Open Mic.

“The Introvert’s Guide to Friendship”

Welcome, fellow shy, socially awkward introverts. Please, settle down, get comfortable. You’re among friends- or should I say acquaintances? Co-inhabitants of planet Earth? What defines a friend- and how are you supposed to get one?

I’m about as introverted as they come, so I understand what it’s like to try to make friends (or at least try to try to make friends). It’s hard. People are complicated, relationships are complicated, and it’s often easier to be alone. But loneliness is apparently “bad for a person’s emotional and mental health” and can lead to a “32% higher risk of dying early,” so I guess it’s nice to know how to make (and keep) friends. That’s why I’m here! I’ve done the hard work of researching, so I can tell you how to do the much harder work of following through based on the research.

Without any further ado, here you go, my introvert kin: The Introvert’s Guide to Friendship.

1. How to Be in the Same Area as People
This shouldn’t be too hard. Most of the readers are, I believe, high schoolers. Well, look around! You have twenty friends-to-be in all of your classes! Assuming you attend class, anyway…. And if you’re the rare adult in my audience, then Google would recommend joining a gym or volunteering at a local non-profit organization.

2. How to Start a Conversation
I’m very guilty of letting other people start conversations. Pro tip: if you bring a popular book to school, maybe someone will comment on it, and you can let them know how far you are in it, and then voila, you’re in a conversation. But you can’t always rely on others to start the conversation. So, try giving someone a compliment, or asking for help (even if you don’t need it). People like to be admired, and people like to help people. And if you see someone holding a good book, you can be the one to comment on it!

3. How to Start the Friendship
So you had a conversation with a post-stranger. How do you bridge the gap from acquaintances to friends? The easiest route is to eat lunch together in the cafeteria. (Sorry, adults, that one’s for the kids.) If there’s an event you’re both going to, like homecoming or a sports game, you can agree to meet up beforehand and carpool on the way to the event. You should definitely exchange numbers or social media accounts. And really, you can just ask something like, “You wanna hang out after school sometime?” (I’ve never tried that last one, because of social anxiety, but logic suggests that it would work.)

4. How to Maintain the Friendship
Text! That’s a big one. And no, Snaps don’t count. Don’t lie, you know you’re Snapping that one person because you want to keep the streak, they’re not really your friend. If you have any childhood friends, try to keep in touch with them- that’s an easy route to having a good friend. Before you know it, you’ll have more friends than pre-friends! (That’s a lie. If you’re like me, you’ll get three friends and decide that’s quite enough.)

5. And Then What?
And then… keep doing it. Keep starting conversations, making new friends, texting people, and maintaining friendships. It’s a never ending process. It’s a daunting task, yes, but just remember: the first step is as easy as an off-hand compliment on someone’s anime tee-shirt.