“What are you so afraid of? You’ll never amount to anything if you can’t just get up in front of a class and give the speech.” My teacher always said.

Well what was I afraid of? I knew what it was. She wanted me to write a speech on someone who I admire more than anything. Well, I knew who that person is, who I admired, but I couldn’t do my speech on THAT. That just wasn’t acceptable. The class would laugh, and my teacher would never understand. So I decided to do the same old tired line about my favorite musician. Weeks of preparation were spent playing around, not really getting anything done on my project. Two days until it was due and it wasn’t done. It was crunch time. Still, in the back of my head, I could see my cousin’s smiling face cross my mind, and I knew I was running away and letting him down. Not only him, but everyone like him. I shook my head and wrote the speech, not paying any attention to my own thoughts, but only to those of the people around me. I just wanted to be accepted, and I didn’t care if that meant denying a part of my own family in the process.

Speech day came, and several people had already gone, some telling of an older sibling, others of a favorite musician or athlete. Everyone laughed when one girl, a mentally handicapped girl name Jessie, told about how she admired her dog, because everyone accepted dogs with no questions asked and how everyone loved dogs. How they were smart and kind and loyal, unlike anyone she had ever met in her life.

It was soon my turn and I stood in front of the class, prepared to tell them how great my favorite musician was, when I saw the look of hurt on Jessie’s face and decided that I could to do something about it. I took a deep breath before tearing up the note-cards that I had spent hours writing and wording just right, and threw them away. Every one looked at me, but I could only see one person in the room. The only person whose happiness was cast upon my shoulders. Jessie.

“I came here to school today prepared to tell you about how I admire some random musician, someone I don’t really even know. But what I really want to tell you about today is the person I really admire the most. His name is Eric. Eric is my younger cousin. And for the ten short years that he has been in this world, society has looked down upon him. You see, Eric isn’t anywhere near what most people consider ‘normal’ He is mentally retarded and slightly autistic. He’s had to struggle through life, a life filled with restrictions, constant hospital trips, and ridicule. He has to go to a special school, and can barely speak. He doesn’t know how the world treats him and doesn’t understand that he is different, and maybe that’s for the best. He has seizures and several illnesses. Yet through it all, he’s always smiling and laughing and ready to give you a great big hug. Maybe, on some level, he really does understand that he’s different, and he just doesn’t care. But no matter what happens in my life or if I do happen to meet a rock star, Eric will always be the person I admire the most.”

The room was silent as I took my seat, and I heard a few whispers and rumors flying in the hall later, but it felt better, somehow, to see the look on Jessie’s face and to help open peoples eyes to people who are “different.”

At lunch, Jessie walked past the table where I sat with my friends. “Jessie, there’s an empty seat here; you can eat with us if you’d like.” I yelled to her with a smile. All of my friends froze and shot me warning glances. The entire cafeteria was watching when Jessie sat down next to me with the biggest grin on her face I had ever seen. My friends all immediately found some excuse to move to another table, until just Jessie and I sat alone.

“I’m sorry all your friends left. I think it’s because of me.” She told me, pushing the food across her tray.

“It’s alright. If they can’t accept people who aren’t like them, they aren’t friends worth having.” I smiled at her.

“But, they’re your friends. I’m the one who isn’t.”

“Jessie, I learned today that friends aren’t all that important in the long run. At least friends like that. What’s important is being true to yourself and standing up for what you believe.”

We got our speech grades back the next day. I was astonished to see I had gotten an A and the comment, “Thanks for opening our eyes to how the world works and how blind we have been to people who are different than us.”

Eventually, my friends realized the point I was trying to make and accepted Jessie into our “group.”

I can remember a few months ago, sitting in the bleachers and watching my best friend Jessie walk across our school gym as she was introduced as a princess on the homecoming court. I can still see the smile on her face when everyone cheered for her. I almost missed it, but I swear I heard the announcer say that she had asked him to thank me over the microphone for making her dream come true and putting myself on the line for her. I yelled and cheered for her until my throat was raw. That night, during halftime at the football game, Jessie was crowned homecoming queen. She was so happy, she ran towards the goal post that I was standing beside and pulled me onto the field with her as she received her crown. That was the happiest I think I have ever seen anybody in my entire life. And I felt so good, knowing that I was the one who made her so happy.