Humans Of New York Posts Tearjerking Story About Man Who Fostered Deep Connection With Childhood Teacher

The story begins in Harlem when Jonathan and his friend Koreh broke into a house. Koreh was sent to juvenile detention after the incident, while police allowed Jonathan to walk free.

As he proceeded to go to high school, Jonathan said he didn’t know what to do with himself. But his life turned when he walked into the debate room at school and found a teacher who identifies as DiCo. The teacher encouraged the young man to stick with the debate team. As Jonathan accompanied the team to different tournaments, he shared that he built a special relationship with the teacher, who later encouraged him to find his “why.”

“She’d be like: ‘What is your why?’ I never had a good answer to that question,” Jonathan said. “All I knew was that I wanted to be like Ms. DiCo.”

The story took another turn when DiCo revealed that they were transgender.

“This is who I am. And I hope you’ll accept me,” the teacher said. “You don’t have to call me Mr. DiCo. But I’d prefer if you don’t call me Ms. DiCo. Just call me DiCo.”

Regardless DiCo’s identity, Jonathan said he was inspired by his teacher. The pair continued to build a special relationship as the debate team moved forward, taking part in competitions such as the Harvard Tournament.

Jonathan, however, fell into trouble again when DiCo suddenly decided to move to another school. Devastated by the news, Jonathan once again felt he didn’t have a purpose in life. He started spending time with friends who lured him into trouble, and he said he sold drugs and felt like giving up on school. Jonathan, who was a high school senior at that time, also learned that his girlfriend was having his baby.

Jonathan later revealed in a series of Instagram posts that he came close to a fatal situation when he was almost tempted to grab a gun and go help his friend who was in trouble. But Jonathan decided not to go that day. His friend, however, was killed during the incident.

The tragic moment served as a wakeup call for Jonathan, who went to school the next day and filed applications for college. He also reached out to DiCo, who once again comforted him and guided him in the right direction.

DiCo is now fundraising via GoFundMe to build the Brooklyn debate league. After being posted for only one day, the campaign has almost reached its goal of $1.2M.

According to DiCo, the speech and debate community “is notorious for gatekeeping.”

“Most tournaments, summer camps, and leagues charge exorbitant fees for students to participate. This allows only certain voices to be heard in the Speech & Debate community. The community is dominated by private schools, parochial schools, and rich kids,” DiCo wrote on the GoFundMe page.

“BDL is safe space for all kids: queer and trans children, kids of color, kids from all income brackets, kids who are national champions and kids who have no experience in Speech and Debate,” DiCo added.