• We were all born to fear what's unknown and hate what's feared. But what if the unknown is good? What if the unknown is something you should hold near and dear to you at all times? What if the unknown made you who you are today? We feared the world at birth. We didn't know what those loud beeps or people screaming was all about. If none of that had ever happened, you wouldn't be sitting here reading this. You think this is some pointless story about being grateful for what you had..you were wrong.
    I was a reject baby. Five dollars away from being aborted. I was an accident as are 300,000,000 other Americans. But, I'm not American. I only live here. I was born and raised in London, England. 8 years to develop this accent. My father killed himself at my birth. I was passed on through more than 5 families. Current: Houston, Texas. I live in a suburb of Houston, just west of New Caney. I live with 4 other hectic family members. They strive to make the days go by as fast as possible. Jay, the middle child, has a disability. I say disability, because I don't know what it is. My mother refuses to tell me until I'm 18. I, on the other hand, have an anxiety disorder that makes me physically, mentally, and emotionally unable to speak in public. I am a chatterbox, even sometimes controlive, in my house. Anywhere else, I break down, become mute, and am socially isolated. My parents spend more than $100,000 every 6 months for my therapy. If anything, adopting me was a major deal that should have never happened.
    I go to public school. I will finally be attending High School in the 2010-2011 school year. I'm looking forward to it. Through Elementary and Middle school, I've been placed into all Special Education classes. 9th grade, all Honors classes. I proved them wrong. Just because I don't speak to them doesn't mean I have Downs or anything else in this "Book of Disorders." I highly believe in the belief that scientists label people so they sound smart. For example, Google Health says I have a fear of people..what the hell? Why would I fear people? They say the causes may be environmental. Yes. Exactly, Google Health, I have anxiety because of that huge power plant explosion. Anyway, I feel people who know someone with a disorder/disability shouldn't base them on how they look or what they know, but only the way they are. I know I'm not the most "perfect image" of a human being, but I am still me, and I expect to be respected. My classmates would always ask me if I didn't speak because my voice was "too high" or "too low." Also, a very popular one these days, "Is something wrong with your voice?" I wish people were more aware of disorders than they were on how they look. You see these girls walking around with fifty pounds of make-up on, yet they don't know what Mentally Challenged means.
    I am scared of my 9th grade year. I may even be a little reluctant to go. I know, in the long run, it will help me. It will help me find who I am, how much I can push my brain, and help me find who my real friends are. I will no longer allow the groups of bullies or preps put me down any longer. I am me, and I accept myself. I feel I am the way I am for a reason. Bullies will not stand in my way of A's and B's. I am striving to never miss a day and get all A's. I can do it if I try. All you ever have to do in life is try. Do not be that group of people that are afraid of the unknown for their whole life. They never live. Embrace the unknown.