The first thing I noticed about this piece is that you felt free to break the "rule" about having a "properly formatted" title, subtitle and an image at the top of your article. This is something I've been wanting to do too. Your piece looks too long to be short form so I guess it's a kind of hybrid. I created a pub for this kind of piece that I called "Gotta Minute" and the pieces in it are mostly one-minute reads.

It kind of ties in with the theme of this piece: being willing to be yourself in spite of what others think. I remember deciding at 10 years old that I would NEVER let anyone's opinion or possible reaction dictate what I would or would not do. Obviously this excluded people in authority over me. ;)

Having no friends or "peers" in elementary, middle or high school, I had absolutely nothing to lose. Someone else's opinion of me is"

-- none of my business

-- outside my control

-- entirely irrelevant