A Personal Commitment Speech

For my personal commitment speech, I wanted to talk about how committed I am to give my nieces and nephew everything that they need in order to succeed and go to college because their parents, my siblings, never did. I was going to talk about how getting an education is a crucial component to a comfortable lifestyle, and how important it is for me to receive an education in order to help tutor them and to have a stable career in order to financial support them, BUT then I thought to myself in order to commit to them, I must commit to myself first. (Pause)

So I decided that I am going to tell you guys who I am, my past struggles with self-identity because even though I have always known who I am, I was not content with myself, and I am also

I am gay (pause)

When I was in the third grade, I knew I was gay. However, I didn’t want to be. Third grade was the year I moved to a different elementary school; however, I moved in the middle of the year, so making friends was challenging, especially because of the way I talk and walk. Everyone would even ask me questions about myself, in which I would always deny it. This question-asking wasn’t just a one time thing, it was constant, almost everyday. It continued throughout middle school and high school, and even now.

But in elementary and middle school, I never gave anyone the satisfaction of knowing who I was because I thought if I denied it, then they would leave me alone, but it only got worse. Little kids are evil. I was laughed at, made fun of. I was bullied. I hated myself.

And I just got tired of the constant torment, so in middle school, when a guy called me a “faggot” and pushed me, I socked him straight in the face and he fell to the ground, and started to bleed from his nose. Of course, I got suspended, but it was weird because I kind of got some respect from others because I had “won” the

It was killing me to try to understand how and why I was gay. I tried so hard to like girls, but I just never could, and the fact that I was alone in the process, only made it worse,

so in high school, I decided to confirm to one of my close friends that I was gay and honestly, it felt good to know that she did not have anything against it. So I just told my closest friends and by senior year, everyone pretty much knew who I was. I was like a celebrity; well an infamous one, but everyone knew me.

It was nice to have some attention, even if it was negative because I felt relevant that a lot of people actually knew who I was even though I had no clue about who they were, they probably didn’t even know who they were themselves. But it was weird, that people, that I didn’t even know, hated me.

I find it odd how people judge others based on the way they walk, talk, and the way that they are dressed. When it 's not their fault...

Let me tell you guys one thing: It 's not a