Student Comes Out to Parents As SESP Transfer

EVANSTON ā€” With family weekend imminent, former engineer and freshman Cole Thompson finally came out to his parents as an SESP transfer. ā€œI just had toā€”I couldnā€™t keep living a lie,ā€ Cole answered, when asked about his newly mustered courage.

When asked about what the general response to his transfer had been, Cole smiled, ā€œNorthwesternā€™s a really accepting place with a strong SESP community and it really helped me come to terms with my major. This supportive environment really helped me come out to my parents.ā€ An interview with his friend Amy Williams, WCAS ā€™19, confirmed this, ā€œYeah, like I donā€™t really care. If youā€™re more of an Intro-to-Psych-Services person than a Finite-Element-Methods-in-Mechanics kinda guy, thatā€™s totally okay. You do you.ā€

Fortunately, Coleā€™s parents took the news relatively well. When asked about the event, Coleā€™s mom commented, ā€œIt was really emotional for meā€¦ I mean, I think on some level I already knew. I was just waiting for him to feel comfortable enough to tell me. Itā€™s really nice to see him take HDPS 341 [Building Loving and Lasting Relationships: Marriage 101] seriously.ā€

On the other hand, Coleā€™s fatherā€™s feelings were mixed. ā€œIā€™ll be honest it was a tearful moment for me butā€¦ if thatā€™s what he wants,ā€ his father recollected, ā€œI just always imagined us as a normal family. You knowā€”white picket fence, large lecture classes, a deflated gradeā€¦ None of this ā€˜The small school that thinks bigā€™ craziness.ā€

Though Coleā€™s family has a lot of growing to do, sources are reporting they seem to be adapting pretty quickly, although Coleā€™s father has been allegedly spotted perusing anti-SESP therapy brochures.

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