The readers submitted some questions about life, love and everything in between. I answered them as honest as I knew possible. I’m here to keep it real with you when no one else is and to answer with no judgment because I don’t know you! I’m just a college senior who enjoys giving his opinion. Here are some of the questions I got this week:

What was coming out the closet like for you?

Coming out of the closet for me personally was super hard. It was something I honestly never thought I would build the courage to do. Growing up, my family didn’t have the nicest things to say about people who were homosexual. I remember telling myself that I would tell my family when I move away to college or something like that. It didn’t exactly happen like that. My family came to me and asked me actually. My cousin and sisters actually saw me tweeting a guy who I was dating at the time secretly. When they came to me and asked me, I just cried and cried. I didn’t want my family to hate me, but despite the comments growing up, my family showed me nothing but acceptance. Coming out for me was hard but I was lucky, not everyone has it that easy telling their family.

How do you feel being biracial when people make racial comments around you?

I don’t like racial jokes and comments at all. I don’t find comments about white people funny and I damn sure don’t find any comments about black people humorous at all.

Where did you come up with the idea of “XOXO, Michael Brown”?

I was actually in the newsroom thinking about what to write for my first column and I was telling the executive editor at the time that I just wanted to write something like Carrie Bradshaw and sign it “XOXO, Michael Brown.” It started as a signature and think I thought it’d be cool to answer people’s questions and that’s basically how my column came about.

What are the best words of wisdom you could give to a stranger right now?

This is a good question. If I just had to give random advice to a person I didn’t know or know what they’re going through, I’d tell them to live their life to the fullest, take chances and don’t be afraid to take risks. Always remember when people show you who they are the first time, if they screw you over once they’ll probably do it again. Last but not least, never let anyone tell you that you can’t achieve something. You can do anything you put your mind to.

To have your question answered you can submit them on ask.fm/mikeyyybx

Michael Brown can be contacted at [email protected]