How Learning to Embrace Diversity Can Change the Trajectory of Your Life
A local cross-country ski race set me on the path to finding my authentic self
My teachers labeled me a non-conformist. They hissed the accusation with disapproval that bordered on contempt.
In art class, all the other kids did portraits of white-tailed deer looking out from the canvas. We had the illusion of choice but there was an unspoken pressure to pick an “appropriate” subject.
During the art show, the halls displayed portrait after portrait of white-tailed deer. “Look at that one, he’s a big six-pointer. Oh, there’s another with a magnificent irregular rack.”
Inevitably, the chatter would dry up when the parents came upon my contribution. I always provided some Salvador Dali inspired tormented landscape in bright and vibrant colors.
“I was going to do a deer,” I explained. “But the other kids used up all the brown paint.”
The parents would nod and say, “That’s different.” Then they’d take the art teacher and the principal and the superintendent aside. They’d stand in a corner muttering words like “deviant” and “bad influence” and “not around my kids.”
