I remember, when I was 16, I'd just finished high school (I went to school in Australia and started when I was 5) and I was trying on a pair of jeans the day after I'd gotten my Senior Exit Statement. Some kids wanted Schoolies Week (the Australian equivalent of Spring Break) and their parents bought them alcohol, even if they were underaged, and I saw footages of drunken orgies with disgust, yet all I wanted was a pair of jeans, and as I was in the fitting room, the song, "Nobody's Perfect" could be heard being piped through the speakers in the store. As I heard the words, "Nobody's Perfect, All of the time... You know there's no perfect reason, no perfect rhyme...." it became something that I lived by.

I was skinny-shamed by my parents because I entered the growth spurt early (I was six feet tall by the time I was 12) and pigeon-chested. I remember, when I was 14, a girl in my class, who had a masculine build, telling me I had a "deformed" chest. I didn't want to go the other way and exercise impulsively to put on weight. As I finally face the reality that I am a transwoman and will be starting a testosterone blocker soon and estrogen, I am glad I didn't bulk up.

I first encountered your name when I was 18 and doing some research for my brother, and I think your story is one of pain but one of great hope.