Anyone who's been a teenager, or raised one, knows growing up is hard. Kids can be cruel to their peers, and many young people go through tough times and experience low moments.
My school life was very much a wandering experience. I was having trouble in school and I was not making a lot of friends. So coming home and actually improvising on the piano and just coming up with melodies was an escape for me.
When I was 16, we get kicked out of our house because my mother and my father were separated, so we didn't have money to pay. We got kicked out and had to live with my grandmother, sleeping in the living room, for many years.
Being a teenager, a gay teenager, in such a small village is not that much fun. I am part of the gay community and most gays have a similar story to mine.
Prison for the crime of puberty -- that was how secondary school had seemed.
It's hard being homeless at any age, but at 16 years old? I can't even imagine. When you're a homeless teen, how do you build a future or have any sort of life?
I had to move away from home at 14 and live in a club house in Romford for three years, only seeing my mum and dad twice a week.
Raised by an irresponsible mother during the Great Depression in the Jim Crow south, my father was on his own from the age of 13.
I think being a teenager is a difficult journey in and of itself, but being transgender makes it that much harder.
I left home when I was 13. When I was 15, I was living in a youth hostel, and I was the 167-pound amateur wrestling champion.
Before I got to the NBA, I always flew coach - it was the worst time of my life. I remember being 14 or 15, and it was such a struggle to fit into those seats.
