SOPHOMORE, dakota raleigh

DAKOTA RALEIGH

- Dakota grew up in a small rural town. There was nothing much to do but play outdoors, climbing trees, and splashing in the nearby river. He loved the smell of freshly cut grass and mud all over his clothes (and hair). 

- The first time Dakota heard about 'puberty' was when he was eight years old. He was listening to a group of older girls talk about growing breasts, buying bras and shaving their body hair. They told him that one day he'd have to stop acting so 'boyish' and start acting like a young lady. The idea scared eight year old Dakota. Because he never wanted boobs or bras or anything. He just wanted to be Dakota. But Dakota is biologically female, and he soon learned that those things were inevitable. 

- When he was twelve, his father got a job in the city, and he was forced to move away from all of his friends.

- He started going through puberty at age fourteen. He was all alone - nobody at his new school wanted to hang out with the 'weird country kid'. He began hanging with the wrong crowd. He got into alcohol and smoking pot. Sometimes he'd even skip school. But anything was better than having to deal with his classmates ridicule.

- After a year of high school (with a higher absence number than attendance, and a school record), Dakota's parents pulled him out of the school. They took him to therapy, where he confessed that he just wanted to be a boy but his classmates just laughed in his face. Though it was the first time Dakota ever said it aloud, his parents had always known Dakota wasn't really a "girl" on the inside. They spent the entire summer focusing on how to make their son happy.

- In the fall, Dakota's parents decided to send him away to Regency Academy, where he'd hopefully be more accepted by his peers.


- 5'7" and 130lbs, just shy of average for a boy, but he doesn't mind. He's the life of the party, regardless (though Kody likes to think he's still growing... he probably isn't).

- Is comfortable pansexual, likes flirting more than actually dating, though. He's too broke for dating.