Campus Echo
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010
A CAMPUS ECHO SPECIAL FEATURE N
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person true stories from the lives of eight nccu students
Given everything, I blew it all
My near-death by Oldsmobile at 10
Homosexuality: a proud lifestyle, but not a choice
BY CHRIS HESS
BY ISHA JACKSON
BY CLINTON CENTRY
ECHO STAFF REPORTER
ECHO STAFF REPORTER
ECHO STAFF REPORTER
do not come from poverty. I come from an upper-middle class home in a nice neighborhood. My parents are still married and happy. I was never abused or molested. In fact, my family gatherings look like a picture from a Ralph Lauren catalog. I was handed every opportunity anyone could ask for. I was accepted into East Carolina University after graduating from Northern Durham High School in 2001. My parents were pleased to be able to pay for my education. I blew it. At age 18, I felt my purpose in life was to drink as much as possible, that partying trumped academic success.
lood gushed from my face as I climbed out of the Oldsmobile. My mouth filled with excruciating pain. All I could think was, “What the hell did she do to me?” It was a beautiful summer day; I had tricked my eldest brother Derrick into taking me to Shelby to visit my grandmother, who lived two minutes from my real destination. My eldest cousin, Kinbria, got behind the wheel of her mother’s Oldsmobile and drove around the block to find the three of us. “Stop being fast, get y’all ass in the car,” she said. Lasonya and I were 10, Leiah was 11.
guess I have always known I was a bit different. It was a feeling that developed within, a natural feeling that I grew to understand and deal with. I could not express my emotions with words, but I knew that I was attracted to the same sex. From as early as age seven, my experiences gave way to a curiosity that steadily progressed. It’s funny how an adolescent can come to this conclusion never having had a sexual encounter of any kind. This is why I challenge the assumption that homosexuality is a choice. In order for one to choose to be homosexual, an alternative has to be presented.
n See HESS Page 4
n See JACKSON Page 5
n See CENTRY Page 2
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Stories written by students in Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers, taught by Dr. Lisa Carl