Though this is by no means a dead-ringer for my own biography, there is so much here that speaks to me. By the time I reached my first year of university I had known for over a decade that I was not "normal" by any stretch of the imagination, though I had never acted on it at that point - though I had been dying to do so. Mr. Renkin and I are of virtually the same age, and I was very much a model of Repression by the time I left home for higher ed, having been trying to live in a "normal" world as much as possible. I can certainly relate!
Good to "see" both @empath as well as @Summerabbacat. It's great to be back in the Land of Lincoln.