In secondary school, I was trying to get accepted into the social group.

I never carried, but the people around me started carrying knives.

I think they were getting a bit too violent, so that kind of helped enlighten me to say “that’s not the people I want to be hanging around with.”

There was basketball courts at the school. One lunchtime I decided to play basketball with someone else that I’d never played with before. And it just felt natural being around them. There was a smile on my face while I was playing, doing something new.

I think if I had never made that decision to leave, my life right now wouldn’t be the same. As soon as I started to hang around with the new group of friends, they gave me a more open way to express myself.

It was a great feeling.