A response to terpfan's article on the high school student denied his diploma was an interesting opportunity for reflection. As a high school senior far too many years ago, I, too wore a bolo tie to my graduation. Nothing was said of it by the administration, and a couple of my fellow grads thought it was pretty cool.

As I thought about it, though, what was interesting was the fact that even back then I was quite libertarian in my thinking. And when I go back even further, I can't remember a time when I was not. I simply came to a realization of who I was when I made the jump to the Libertarian Party.

Whether it was wearing white socks with dress clothes, to the chagrin of my parents, or riding my moped down a hill without a license to gas it up and walk it back to the house when I couldn't see the sense in WALKING it down, or various other smarmy incidents of "skirting" the rules, I was always fairly rebellious in my actions. And it was often to my detriment. When a project for my senior year history class was deemed to be too offensive for public display (it was a collage commentary on the televangelist scandal at the time; nothing truly obscene, but this was in the middle of the bible belt, so we didn't slam our televangelists), I worked hard to redo my project overnight and received a lesser grade because my contribution was of lesser quality (by my teacher's own admission). My "hardline" stances on some issues alienate me from potential political allies and virtually ensure that I could not "fit" within either of the major parties, no matter how hard I tried to do so. I am, without apology, without exception, a libertarian.

So, you see, while I may have chosen the party affiliation of "Libertarian", I can't say I "chose" to see certain laws as stupid, or to see that the rights of the individual should be maintained. While it's possible that the details of my upbringing may have shaped my decision, it is who I am, and without apology.