Back in high school, we had a kid who has Aspergers and was a little weird. He was, however, amazing at the yo-yo, having picked one up during middle school when we had that yo-yo trick assembly. After everyone else had stopped walking the dog in 8th grade, this guy was doing more and more elaborate tricks every day during lunch. He was bullied and teased, but he continued doing what he loved.
So, at our ten-year reunion, people from every strata of high school popularity was there, including this guy. He was his same old self, but more confident. I asked him if he still yo-yos, and he busted out his custom-made titanium yo-yo that he said he made on a CNC lathe. He then starts to do some tricks, and a large crowd gathered around. It was quite the show; he had gotten very good. When he finished, people clapped and cheered, and even the jockiest dudes from back in the day fist bumped him and told him how badass he was.
So I guess the biggest transformation was everyone else. Nobody teased him for being who he was anymore; they now admired him for being so passionate about something.
If you know someone who might like this, please click “Share!”