Personal Narrative: Maturing In Northeast Florida

Maturing in Northeast Florida, religion substantially impacted my life. I learned everyone was equal and deserved to be treated so. Conversely, I learned only heterosexual relationships were accepted into the Kingdom of God and discrimination toward homosexual individuals was present. As I advanced through my adolescent years, I discovered I was unique from my male peers; I felt attracted to my female and male classmates. With my knowledge of the discrimination and non-existing acceptance of homosexuality, at age fourteen, I faced my greatest challenge. To be a Christian, I felt I must repress my feelings toward males and to not be my true self. Throughout middle school, I strongly struggled internally and externally with my sexuality. Internally,

my mental health was destroyed; I could not establish my sexuality with my faith. Externally, I faced negative viewpoints of homosexuality from peers due to my personality caused by my lack of a father figure growing up (my dad passed away when I was five). Ergo, the unfavorable externals and internals I encountered negatively impacted my academic achievement; I no longer advanced my education like I did previously: I maintained a B and C average. Conversely, nearing the end of eighth grade, I accepted I needed a resolution to better myself as well as my academic career. When I turned fourteen, I found the resolution to my challenges I yearned for; I accepted myself as a bisexual teen and as a Christian teen. When I allowed myself to accept me for whom I am, I gained the ability to defeat my external and internal demons; Mentally, a lonely box no longer encapsulated me and externally, my confidence in my sexuality and Christianity upstaged the opposing viewpoints. Simultaneously, my academic standings are at an all time high due to my realization; Now I am maintaining straight A’s for the second year in highschool. Moreover, the challenges I struggled with in middle school taught me perseverance is the exclusive mindset that will propel me into my intended goals. Through perseverance and my challenges, I now am able to successfully regulate my academic career positively.