"My family life had more to do with why I was in the closet in high school than the school environment did," says 24 year-old Nick Humniski about his time at Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School.

"I was happy a lot throughout high school. It wasn't terrible."

But Nick still thinks his high school was an unsupportive environment for gay students. "Some teachers I had didn't seem gay-friendly. They would tolerate using gay as a slang term in their classrooms and they didn't make you feel comfortable not being 'normal'."

"Every time a gay comment was uttered it just kind of reaffirmed that I should keep that door locked."

Nick believes his closeted sexuality affected the way he interacted with his friends and classmates. "I was much more reserved. I wasn't very outgoing or actually very friendly. I was a different person than I am now."

As a national-stream Kayaker, Nick found comfort in his life outside of school. "My paddling club was like my own kind of safe space because everyone was weird there too."

"Not making my high school life my everything really contributed to my happiness."

Beyond his paddling family, Nick had a large group of friends at school, and even a couple of girlfriends throughout grades 10, 11, and 12.

"I didn't mind making out with girls when I was really drunk, it wasn't the worst thing ever. There was just nothing special in it for me."

After graduating high school in 2009 and watching every episode of the television drama, Queer as Folk, Nick came out to his friends and family and was largely received with kindness and support.

"The group of friends that I loved didn't care when I came out. It would have been cool to know it was going to be like that when I was in high school."

Nick believes a supportive social network is key to making any high school experience positive. He wants straight students and teachers to understand their power.

"Your words could be contributing to why someone decides to stay in the closet."

He would also like to see homosexuality integrated into high school history curriculums.

"We always talked about bilingualism in our history classes but gay marriage never came up as a Canadian value. I think integrating gay issues into our schools' curriculum would help prevent bullying."

Nick says that coming out has made his life better. He says that being closeted had a greater impact on his life than being openly gay.

"I'm a gay man tenth and a lot of other things before that."