Sports and Extracurricular Activities Helped Me Essay Example
The first time I knew I was different I was twelve. All of my friends were talking about the girls that they had crushes on; I was terrified and spitting out random answers, trying to conceal the fact that I was gay. I was fortunate enough to have grown up in a diverse city like New York City, where being mixed race was not an uncommon experience.
Though I grew up in a low-income community, to a very low-income family, my parents did their best to make my childhood as happy and carefree as possible. These factors in my life contributed to my identity and have shaped me into the person that I am today, but it was my sexuality that truly molded me and shaped the trajectory of my life. When I initially realized I was gay, I wrestled internally with bein
...g true to myself or hiding who I was to escape the homophobia that was deeply ingrained in my community and family. Out of shame and fear, I chose to live a closeted life.
I poured myself into sports and extracurricular activities, claiming that it was practice and time commitments that prevented me from dating. The problem with living a lie is having to continue to lie to conceal the original lie. As time went on, I found myself falling deeper and deeper into “the closet,” making it hard to see the light on he other side of the door. I chose to attend college in Los Angeles, thinking that the distance would alleviate everything. Every time I toed the water, I always retreated in fear of being rejected.
This constant fear and stress were takin
a toll on me. My grades were suffering, I was again pouring myself into extracurricular activities and ignoring my underlying issue, my insecurity with my sexuality. I was slowly resigning myself to a life of lying and loneliness. I was yearning to live life authentically, and it was becoming too hard to deny; the closet was incompatible with my desires, and I had a choice to make.
The summer after my first year of college, I came out to my parents. It was a tense conversation, a way of life that they had no experience with. Though it strained our relationship, it facilitated my first steps of growth. I began reclaiming my individuality, and embracing my identity as gay Native American man. I joined clubs and organizations dedicated to LGBTQ rights and inclusion.
I learned that everyone’s experiences are unique and allow us to view the world through our own lens. It is our diversity that shapes our views. I became an advocate for people like me, and people who are different than me, because I believe that everyone deserves equal treatment and access to resources. In 2015 I watched as the Supreme Court declared that same-sex couples had the fundamental right to marry in all fifty states, showing that though prejudice and discrimination still exist, we were continuing to make progress. This helped to continue to fuel my passion as an advocate; a passion that coupled with my experiences will help me as I embark on my legal education and ultimately enter the legal field.
Diverse perspectives are essential in the study and practice of law; my background, as a biracial gay man from a low-income family,
will provide me with a unique voice to best represent and serve other underrepresented people.
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