Knox Overstreet

So, a friend and I have been having a Facebook conversation about Knox Overstreet. For those unfamiliar with the movie Dead Poets' Society, he's slightly painful to describe. The premise of the movie centers around an all-boys' prep school where Robin Williams is the English literature teacher. His first lesson to the class is about seizing the day, and he brings the boys to pictures of alumni of the school, long-since deceased and whispers "Carpe diem" in their ears. This becomes a mantra for several of the boys, including Knox Overstreet, who falls in love with a girl unbelievably out of his league. Through a series of maneuvers that are truly hard to watch, he professes his love to this girl to the point where you think she just might deck him. And while I find myself getting embarrassed for him every time I watch this movie, I can't help but feel admiration for Knox Overstreet. While I think anyone who has ever stood in front of a person and had the "I-like-you-do-you-like-me?" conversation will agree that it doesn't tend to work out in real life the way it does in the movies, there is something very freeing about saying the thing you mean to a person without regard to the consequences. Thank you, Knox Overstreet, for being a gutsy, hopeless romantic, so that I can live vicariously through you and not have to embarrass myself.