I used to have zero self esteem. I knew I was the lowest piece of human garbage that had ever existed or ever would. In school, every day I got the message from too many kids that I was nothing, that I didn't matter. Please just go away and leave us alone. And if you happen to die, oh well life's a bitch ain't it. I think of school as one year of kindergarten and twelve years of absolute hell.

Even as an adult I couldn't recognize my own talents. I kept downplaying them. "I'm fairly intelligent." If you've read my other pieces you know what an understatement that is. "I sing OK". I got a 92 when I went to solo voice competition. "I guess I write alright. But my stuff isn't very good." I still...