You were the valedictorian
of your senior class.
Now, you're a freshman
at Georgetown,
and you're an amazing young man.
I can't believe your story.
And so, it's never
easy for anyone
to come out to their parents.
That is a really difficult
thing to do, but especially
hard for yours, right?
It was.
About the valedictorian
part, I have to give you
all the credit for that.
When I was writing
my papers at 2:00 AM,
I often had to look up your
videos for inspiration.
And you just--
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
There were so many times that
you really pulled me through.
So I do appreciate that.
I'm glad I could do that.
Thank you so much.
But as far as coming out, in my
sophomore year of high school,
my dad went through
my phone and found out
that I was gay and sent me
to a conversion therapy.
How did he found out?
I was writing a paper
one night and he
started searching through my
phone and saw a picture of me
with my first
boyfriend at the time.
And so that's how he
found out you were gay.
And then what happened?
So they sent me to
conversion therapy.
And then after a few
months, that ended.
The dangerous part about
that is, as a patient,
I believe that this
health care professional
was doing what was best for me.
And I didn't see any progress.
So it's very depressing.
But then it went on, and in
my senior year of high school
they got a new pastor who
was preaching these messages
at church that I
didn't agree with,
and I asked to go to
a different church.
And they said that I would
either have to go with them
or move out.
And so I decided that day
that I had to move out.
And after that I was
just couch surfing
with friends for a while.
And then I moved in with
my best friends family.
How long ago was that?
This was the beginning
of this year.
OK.
So you've had no
contact with them since?
No, I've stayed in
contact with them.
Because at the end of the
day, they're still my parents.
Good for you.
Wow.
It's very difficult.
Yeah, good for you.
[APPLAUSE]
OK.
But you're not home--
where are you staying?
I'm actually staying with--
I called them madre, padre,
and then all of their kids.
So I'm staying with
my best friend's
family over the summer.
But for a while you
were just taking
on different people's couches?
Yes, ma'am.
Yeah.
OK.
So now you're in
Georgetown, and a freshmen.
How is that going in college?
It feels like it's
been three months,
but it's only been two weeks.
It's amazing.
I absolutely love it.
I would not want to be
anywhere else but Georgetown.
The staff is so supportive.
That's great.
Our residential minister
actually lives on my floor.
As a Jesuit University they
have resident ministers,
and she told me that she
was there to support me.
And as someone who's been
through something like this
with religion, it
meant the world to me
to hear from a spiritual
advisor that they had my back.
Because that's what
religion should do.
It should comfort
you and support you
for being the
person that you are.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
[APPLAUSE]
Well, good for you.
I'm glad.
All right.
So how did this GoFundMe page--
how did that get started?
So when Georgetown gave me
my financial aid package,
it was based on my
parent's income.
So there was about
a $20,000 gap.
And I went to a
teacher, and she was
like, I would love to cosign
for you, but she said,
I'm still paying
my student loans.
I can't.
So she said, I'm going
start a GoFundMe.
And she did.
And the goal was
to raise $20,000.
And I was blown away
when it hit $2,000.
I was just so surprised
that people would actually
put their money and support me.
And it's more than $2,000 now.
It closed off at
$141,000 dollars.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
So that should help.
Oh, definitely.
But here's the
amazing thing-- you
want to do something special
with the leftover money.
Tell people what
you're going to do.
Absolutely.
So whenever I graduate, I'd
like to take the remaining money
and donate it to starting
a scholarship for people
in similar situations.
[APPLAUSE]
All right.
So we're partnering again
this year with Cheerios
to encourage one
million acts of good,
and they're inspired by
young people like you.
They're going to help you
start your scholarship
with this check for $25,000.
Oh, my God.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Oh, my God.
There's no way.
Yep.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
