I found my peeps among the professors in the humanities. I was raised in a religious cult and at 18 made the choice to leave. I was disowned by my family for supposedly treading through the blood of Jesus Christ. Needless to say, I grew up in a closed society, and had no idea what my choices for lifestyles would be. When I decided to go to college, it changed my life for the better. The first time in my life, I was free to talk about all kinds of things that had been closed topics in the past. I had a music professor, an older woman with white hair and flamboyant style. She was married to another professor at the same university. She opened my eyes to a larger worldview. She’d lived in France. Her children went to Montessori schools. And she shared the magic of Beethoven with me. For the first time in my life, I think someone saw me and saw my potential. She’ll never know how much she influenced me, but from that point on I knew that education was where I wanted to be. I was a teacher and a school administrator for 30 years. I’ve never felt more at home than with the arts, literature, languages, and music. It has enriched my life and I believe makes a society into a place where human creativity and expression flourishes. When authoritarians rise to power, they always go after me and my peeps.