I was in my first year of public high school in 1999. The Kingston name was in the news and that year polygamy was a topic students and sometimes teachers in my school discussed often. My family was known as a plural family in our neighborhood and students would often approach me to ask questions, poke fun or even ridicule me. I felt like I had no place there and I hated school because of that.

I felt like an outsider and an outcast all through my years in public school and I eventually dropped out after 10th grade because I was so uncomfortable. I wanted to go far in my education and had a desire to learn and continue on to graduate college, but because I felt too unsafe to be myself, I quit and ended up getting my diploma through night school classes.