Home is supposed to be a sanctuary. However, one Florida teen was robbed of that comfort after his parents threw him out of their home in 2018. Facing the prospect of life on his own, he was forced to make a bold move in order to survive and forge a future of his own.
Growing up in Florida, Seth Owen seemed like a model son and student. Below the surface, however, his personal life was far from perfect; in fact, it was teetering on the verge of collapse.
Things were always great in the classroom, however. Ever since he was a little boy, Seth made sure to study hard. He was going to do whatever it took to attend a good college.
“I was the nerd in fifth grade who walked around recess talking about how I wanted to be an astronaut,” Owen said. “I was always in a textbook, always in the library, always reading something.”
But everything changed one evening during high school. While Owen was busy putting the finishing touches on a homework assignment, his dad opened up the teen’s phone. He found something shocking on the device.
Owen’s father found some pictures and had immediate questions. First, he wanted to know how his son, who was a successful student athlete, was doing. Then, he revealed what photo he’d found on his son’s phone.
“He found a damning photograph of me and another guy,” Owen remembered. “Nothing inappropriate, but it clearly indicated that I was gay.” That caused a big problem for his parents.
Owen’s parents were strict Southern Baptists and unwilling to accept his sexuality. Rather than supporting their son, they saw him as a problem; they were going to try to fix it.
They started sending the teenager to a Christian counselor, hoping that would help. “It was definitely awkward conversion therapy where they tried encouraging stereotypical masculine tasks and things like that,” Owen remembered.
After a few months, Owen stopped visiting the counselor. His parents were unwilling to relent on one other decision, however. Their son still needed to attend church, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Given the congregation’s views about sexuality, Owen didn’t feel comfortable attending services. He asked to pray at another church, but his parents refused. If he didn’t want to worship with them, he would have to move out.
Seth didn’t want to leave, but he couldn’t deny who he truly was. With a heavy heart, the teenager packed his bags and headed for the door; from that day forward, he would fend for himself.
The upheaval didn’t change his academic performance, however. Despite spending nights on his friends’ couches, the teen was still accepted into Georgetown University. His college dream was finally coming true.
A few weeks after leaving home, Owen received his admissions packet from the school. When he opened it and poured over the paperwork, though, his heart dropped. There must have been a mistake.
When Georgetown calculated Owen’s financial aid package, they factored in his parents’ income. Since he was now on his own, there was no way the teen could afford his tuition payments.
Understandably, Seth was crushed. He had spent his entire life working towards a college acceptance — and thought he had received it — only to lose his grip on the opportunity at the last second.
One of his teachers, Jane Martin, realized that Owen was struggling, even if he didn’t want to admit it. She pulled a few of her colleagues together, and they tried to set things right.
Martin set up a GoFundMe page hoping to pay her student’s tuition. “I know the goal seems unrealistic and the circumstances aren’t ideal, but I also know communities can make the impossible possible,” she wrote.
Before anyone realized what was happening, the page had raised over $100,000. Not only could Seth attend Georgetown, but he came to understand something even more important: people cared about him.
“He has had so much support,” Martin said. “I’m just excited for him to have this community literally come around and put all of our arms together and bring him up and raise him up.”
By sharing his story, Owen hoped to inspire other teens to love themselves, no matter what. “I would tell that sophomore kid to hold their head high, roll their shoulders back and be exactly who they are,” he sai
Owen’s message resonated with more than just high school teens; it struck a chord with teachers, too. First-grade teacher Jocelyn Morffi loved what she did and the kids loved her back. But she didn’t realize how much Owen’s advice would speak to her.
Jocelyn was well known by the parents and staff and was one of the most popular teachers at the school. Parents of her students praised her and referred to Miss Morffi as the “Mother Teresa of teachers,” and for a good reason!
As a teacher of children who were so young and impressionable, Jocelyn found it difficult to talk to her students about the tragedies that occur around the world on a daily basis. She wanted her conversations with them to be filled with hope rather than fe
Unforunately, it’s stories like Jocelyn’s that cause many people to still feel the need to keep their sexuality hidden — Christopher Landis was no exception. The 43-year-old has been a teacher and a choir director in Massachusetts for the past six years.
“You always walk into his classroom and he’s always there with a positive attitude and maybe a compliment. He’s just so nice,” Summer Foraste, one of Landis’ students, said.
