I walked to class yesterday shaking and trembling. It was the day I’ve dreamt about for the past year and a half. I wasn’t nervous to read the story itself, I was more nervous to tell my story. 4:59pm. Ready to throw up, I volunteered to go first. I waited for the class to quiet down after passing my paper around, took a deep breath, and began to read. I was so nervous in fact, that my hands went numb. There were many sentences I couldn’t read correctly and several words I stumbled over. After reading the whole thing through, the class clapped for me and smiled at me empathetically. I felt humbled by their support. It was hard to even look at them. I went through hell for over a year and this was my moment. It was a very relieving and liberating moment for me. It was official- my truth was out. It felt like a million doves were being freed from the cage in my mind that held these truths back for so long. “Alright now let’s start with things you liked about the essay…” my professor told the class. One of the things that one boy said particularly stood out to me; I appreciated it a lot. “I really loved how you came out to tell this very vulnerable, detailed, serious story but you still incorporated your privacy into it. I respect that.” And I respected him for saying that. My professor asked the class to make critiques of my paper and the room was silent. Only a few people spoke up about minor sentence errors but no one had anything bad to say. I was shocked. I never ever expected such an accepting atmosphere. I spent years believing I was the one in the wrong and that if I ever told my story, no one would believe me. I mainly feared retaliation. This was everything but. My heart was mended into the heart it was before in those 15 minutes and I’ll be forever grateful for those who were willing to see me as a human being after feeling like an alien for so long. I walked out of that class feeling lighter. I am the woman in the news. And no one can break me anymore.

Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight. – 2 Samuel 10:12