Outspoken: Jeremy
Koepf

Life should have been perfect for me. Life was supposed to leave all the doors open to me. Why were they closed? When I was younger I knew I was different, yet I also knew inside I had the potential to conquer the world. I was praised for being a great leader, for being so intelligent, for being so compassionate--it seemed perfection had kissed my face. My mother told me that she could not have asked for a better son. But nothing remains constant.

My world as I knew it was forever changed when those in my life discovered my heart was sworn to another guy. The near-perfect child had tripped and fallen. Though society may see me as a minority now and my mom no longer says she couldn't have asked for a better son, I still know that I possess the potential to be great.

Society's condescending nature has given me the motivation to prove them wrong. I no longer hear how smart or compassionate or what a good leader I am. But I no longer need the approval of others.

Society may never accept me, but I no longer find it necessary to be accepted. The desire to scream to the world who I am was enough to make my lungs bleed, yet at first I could not so much as whisper my true identity, even to myself.

Could my love be forbidden? This question, though seemingly complicated, had a very simple answer: no. The inner fire yearning to explode its truth upon the world had finally been extinguished by my own self-acceptance.

The hardest journey for any person is the one to self-acceptance. I had broken my mold, and I stood in front of the world, naked and unwavering. But I was ready to take on the world now that I no longer needed her bittersweet approval. I had my own approval, and that was my success.