Shane Koyczan, Canadian writer and spoken-word poet, gave a talk and performed for New Trier freshmen on Nov 9 and 10 as part of The Identity Project.

The Identity Project invited Koyczan to share his poetry–which addresses topics ranging from his first crush to bullying. His spoken word poem “To This Day” has over 17 million views on YouTube since its release in Feb2013.

New Trier is the first school in the United States that Koyczan has officially visited. He admits it’s different performing for high school students as opposed to a live theatre audience.

“I get to swear more in front of audiences that aren’t highschoolers,” Koyczan said. “ If I’m doing a theatre show, I can do a wide range of things, If I’m going to a school, I try and talk about things that may be affecting the lives of the students at the time.”

During his performance to freshmen, Koyczan performed several original pieces including “For Many”, his most recent piece which focuses on body image and the harsh question: “If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?”

“That poem actually was born out of an interesting circumstance,” Koyczan said. “I got a photo from an 8-year-old boy with the caption: ‘Am I Ugly?’ and it just broke my heart. I realized I wasn’t the only one who was going through this. That was sort of the catalyst to sit down and write the piece.”

“For Many” was just one of several poems performed around the theme of identity. According to Koyczan, his writing process is never exactly the same. He said it varies from piece to piece, but the main chunk of time is spent on editing.

“I can write a piece in 40 minutes, but it may take me six to seven days to edit it into what I want it to be,” Koyczan said.

One aspect that is consistent is that he always writes the ending of his pieces first.

“I find the summation of what I want to say and I start with that,” Koyczan said. “Then I write to the beginning, so that when I’m finally reading the piece, I am drilling it down to the main point I am trying to make at the end.”

Outside of writing and performing, Koyczan admits to being a normal guy.

“I’ve turned my hobby, the thing that I love, into my career,” Koyczan said. “So I like going to the movies, bowling, hanging out with friends, things like that. I like pretending I can dance.”

When asked about advice he would give to students currently having a rough time in high school, Koyczan reflected on advice he wish he took as a kid.

“Everybody knows growing up where their moral line or where their ethical line is,” Koyczan said. “But you get put through a lot of stressful situations going through school, whether it’s peer pressure from friends or people you don’t even know, or making new friends. And there should be a question you constantly should be asking yourself: ‘Am I Okay with this?’ ‘Is this gonna lead me to where I want to be?’”

Koyczan continued, talking about the importance of standing up for your beliefs.

“You answer that question for yourself because you do know that answer,” Koyczan said. “You should hold true to it and not worry about how people are going to perceive you because you’ve taken a stand. Be proud that you’ve taken a stand.”

After speaking at New Trier, Koyczan will be on tour around North America promoting his new album, “Debris.”