Nathan Exposed » Nathan Exposed: The College Years

Picture it: January, 2002.

If only I’d had a blog during that time in my life. It was the most fun, the most laughs, and I have no idea why I have never talked about it before. Now how can I even begin to summarize it into this post?

Let’s just say that when I lived in Illinois, I grew up a closeted gay boy, afraid to be my true self. I had taken some time off after high school to work full time as a designer, and even then, I remained in the closet at work.

When Rodney and I moved to Raleigh, NC in 2002, I decided it was time to be a grown man, and people would have to accept me for who I really was. I became a bold, confident version of my true self.

It didn’t take long before people noticed. I had wit, I had humor, and I had talent to top it all off. I was outspoken and unafraid of authority…

The Test

One of my favorite moments in college was the day the whole classroom took a test and failed. The instructor was awful. He really didn’t know how to explain the material, he was very bad at his job, and I really felt we were victims of his poor judgment. I didn’t see how we could possibly have taken the test and passed.

So in a ballsy move, I asked him to step out into the hall with me, and I explained that he had done a very bad job as a teacher. I told him that our test results were a direct reflection of his lack of skills, and if he put the scores in our permanent records, it would only show that he didn’t know how to properly go over the lesson. I asked him to throw out our tests and re-teach the entire lesson…. and HE DID!

The whole class cheered when they found out what had happened. I was a hero that day, and I really think I did the right thing. But I was most proud because I did something the high school version of me never would have done.

The SEX Scandal

One of the projects in a class on print design was to re-create a CD cover that we felt could be improved. I chose Madonna’s Erotica CD, because I’ve always loved the music, but always hated the cover.

I decided I wanted to incorporate a photo from her racy “SEX” book, so I went online to download pictures from it. Right then, one of the big wigs from the school (I don’t recall which) walked in and his eyes went right onto my screen.

“Did I walk in on something?” he asked me.

“No,” I said without hesitation. “I’m working on art. Besides, I don’t like naked women anyway.”

This was Nathan Exposed in the making, I have to say. Pulling up porn in class, and getting away with it.

Somehow I don’t think these stories will translate as well to my blog now, compared to how they would translate if you’d known the old me and then saw the new me in the making. I guess the most important thing is that I came out of my shell, and found out people really liked me. That’s a very nice feeling.

Tue, Jan 8, 2008 @ 1:20 am | Filed in Gay | Permalink

4 Comments

im from illinois. why do i feel like we talked about this already?

Posted by chris on Tue, Jan 8, 2008 @ 11:37 am

I love OLD and NEW. Rebirthing, rethinking, re-doing ourselves. I love transitions. The ability to look back, laugh, and learn…..and sometimes we don’t see those lessons until years later.

Posted by Lewis on Tue, Jan 8, 2008 @ 12:58 pm

“Did I walk in on something?” he asked me.

“No,” I said without hesitation. “I’m working on art. Besides, I don’t like naked women anyway.”

Hilarious!!!!! I love it!

Posted by Chip on Tue, Jan 8, 2008 @ 6:09 pm

I just came across your blog. Are you still in Raleigh?

Posted by Tony on Sat, Jan 12, 2008 @ 9:53 pm