Last semester I made an announcement that changed people’s opinions of me forever. My friends were embarrassed to know me. I was mocked and scorned. My parents lost some pride in calling me their son.

But I needed to let it out. I couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. Yes, last semester I admitted that I have never beaten Super Mario Bros.

I will never forget that day and the humiliation I felt as they thrust a controller in my hands and forced me to play the game one more time.

Level by level, they barraged me with insults until board 8-3 when I led Mario to his final death at the hands of a hammer throwing turtle.

I felt so alone that day. I had nowhere to turn for support. If only there were a day when I could have told my secret without fear. A day when I could have “come out” and admitted that I could never defeat King Koopa and his cronies and be welcomed by others just like me.

For those in the gay community, such a day exists. A week ago they celebrated National Coming Out Days, a time when they could come out of the closet and be welcomed by their fellow homosexuals.

Everybody may not agree with their choice of lifestyle, but at least gay people are willing to admit who they really are. So many of us are hiding inside closets of our own. I think we may need coming out days for the rest of society.

I know I could have used support when I told the truth about my Mario skills. But there are other people with secrets and beliefs that they would like to make public.

I am reminded of the musical group known as “Hanson.” These teeny-boppers have already sold millions of albums and made “MMM Bop” a part of our vocabulary. Yet, there is not a person on this planet who will admit to liking their music.

But there have to be some folks buying their albums and some people making Hanson requests to the radio station.

This means there are millions of “in the closet” Hanson fans all across the country.

In fact, there are probably hundreds of Hanson fans right here on campus.

Look around, you may be sitting next to one right now. You might be living with one and not even know it (I’ve been suspecting my roommate for a while now). Who knows, you could even be one!

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a coming out day for Hanson fans? A day when they could all band together and listen to the music they love on central campus.

No longer would these people feel the need to lock themselves in a bathroom stall with their Walkmans just to listen to Hanson.

They could finally take some pride in their choice of music.

And have you ever met a guy who would admit to crying at a movie? I know they exist, in fact, I’ve seen them do it.

But that doesn’t mean they’ll admit to it. “I was, uh, eating an onion,” they’ll say, or “there’s some popcorn in my eye.”

These guys are too scared of losing their macho image to fess up. (Okay, I’ll admit that I got teary eyed at a movie once, but you have to admit that the end of Rocky IV is pretty emotional).

What these men need is a day when they can feel safe to grab a box of tissues, throw in “Beaches” with their buddies and bawl their eyes out for a few hours; a coming out day for those emotional men when they don’t have to give a dang about what the rest of the world thinks.

These are just a couple of groups that are scared to show their true selves. I guarantee that every one of you has a secret or passion that you are afraid to let the world know about.

I thought that once we reached college we were supposed to feel free to express ourselves, but after being here for a year I know that most people are still just trying to fit in.

This is why I think we should have a generic coming out day for everybody. A time when we could all show our true faces for once.

It is sad that people are embarrassed of who they are. There should be a day for people to feel free to admit to things like being an alcoholic or a virgin.

And maybe you don’t drink, or you are scared of clowns, or you think Monica Lewinski is hot.

There is no reason to keep these things a secret. Let it out, you’ll feel better.

I may not know much about gay culture, but I do know that they are hip enough to admit who they really are, even if it still isn’t embraced by the masses.

If they can do it, maybe it’s time we came out of our closets too.

But watch out for King Koopa and his hammer throwing turtles.

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Peter Borchers is a sophomore in advertising from Bloomington, Minn.