I am not just the kid whose dad died of cancer, and I’m not just the student who is transgender and pansexual. Who I am and what makes me diverse in America is not just one event. It is many events.

Let me start from the beginning. My name is Sage Bishop, and my childhood was pretty normal when I was younger. Unlike some people, I never had to worry about my parents divorcing or fighting. The only thing my parents may have fought about was over the lawnmower. I did have a half-sister, who at the time was a teenager who fought with my mother over dumb things, but that was all. I did move a lot, but my family was very loving, supportive, and pretty nice. I had what some people may call “child innocence,” meaning that I had a good childhood, and I never had any traumatic events at a young age. Except when I turned nine.

When I turned nine was one of the first big events that happened in my life. When my dad died of cancer, it changed how I looked at the world, my religious beliefs, and who I am. I feel like after he died, my “child innocence” disappeared, and I saw the world from a new perspective, a perspective that the world isn’t always a great place. When my dad was in the hospital, I prayed to God for my father to get better, but he didn’t. This caused me to not believe in God anymore and change my religion, making me partly who I am. I feel like my dad dying also made me stronger. Not everyone at the age of nine has their father die in a hospital. My dad dying was an event that happened that affected my life and made me who I am today, but that is not the only event that changed me.

When I started middle school, I was in a bad relationship, and once it ended I learned that I should not put up with that kind of toxicity because I do not need that in my life. During middle school, I also, like many other students, questioned my sexuality and gender. I went through this process and questioned my sexuality in sixth grade and then questioned my gender in seventh grade. At first, I identified as bisexual and then identified as pansexual, which is the label that I still use now. I also identify as transgender female to male. I have struggled with gender and body dysphoria for the past year, and it sucks. I would have people ask why I am bisexual or have others refuse to use my preferred pronouns. Luckily, I do have an accepting mother who tries her best to use my preferred pronouns. Being trans and pansexual is a part of who I am and is one of the things that makes me diverse in America.

Another thing that I would like to mention is that during middle school and even now I also identify with the label nerd and weeb. Some people may feel embarrassed for being a nerd, geek, weeb, etc. but I embrace it, and I am not ashamed. I also cosplay! Cosplay is when someone dresses up as a fictional character from a movie, anime, tv series, etc. Being a nerd is who I am, and it shows some diversity.

I am pansexual, transgender, a nerd, cosplayer, and a child with a single mother. All of these things are what make me diverse and different In America. All of these important events in my life made me change and are the reason why I am who I am today. It is not one singular event that made me me; it is all the events that make me who I am and is what makes me Sage.

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