The risk I wish to discuss is the risk of being yourself in a world that sees you as a freak. The biggest risk I have taken in my life was to change my name so that it helped to identify who I am on the inside. My life has not been easy because I have felt that I am different than those around me. I was born female but have always felt as if I were male. I spent the majority of my life trying to be the sex that I was born and was always miserable. After my parents died in 2002-2003 I decided it was time to live my life in a way that made me happy. During the course of my life, living as a female, I gave birth to two children. The hardest thing for me was to sit the children down and to try to explain who I feel that I am and why I changed my name to match who I am on the inside. When I was growing up there were no words to describe how I felt. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized there was a term to identify how I felt. That word is transgender. It was such a relief to see that others felt the same way that I did. Being yourself isn't always easy. People constantly question me as to why I have a male name and they want to argue with me over the phone as to my identity. I try to be patient with others because I know that it is confusing for people that do not understand. At this point in my life I cannot afford to transition into who I am because of the lack of financial resources. The results of this are the continuous questions, the looks I get when I tell someone my name, and the discrimination that I endure when looking for employment. You would think in the year 2009 that there would be more tolerance for those that are different. That isn't the case the majority of the time. I don’t regret trying to be myself but it can be quite difficult to watch my children suffer negative responses due to something as simple as a name change. People can be cruel and very harsh when someone doesn’t fit a traditional mold that others feel that you must fit into. I...