“I like to think that I’m a fairly passionate person,” Darby Hall said. He’s got cropped hair, a 90’s style choker necklace, and a t-shirt on. He works with planned parenthood, gay rights advocacy groups, transexual rights advocacy groups, and loves art.

This fall, Darby will be attending Meramec to get his associates degree in Human Services. Eventually he wants to get his Bachelor’s degree in Human Services.

“Darby is the best person ever,” Alyssa Kamen, senior, said. She’s been best friends with Darby since middle school, and they talk about everything. They met through a mutual friend, but they find it funny that neither of them are friends with that girl anymore.

In Darby’s sophomore year, he transitioned to male, but according to Alyssa remains fairly open when it comes to gender.

This, however, isn’t Darby’s story.

Darby volunteers at Planned Parenthood, working as a sort of ‘bodyguard’ for women walking in at out of the clinic.

“Every few weeks we have workshops, which teach us about how to deal with protestors and things like that,” Darby said. The location he works at is in the central west end, and is the very public source of conflict for those who choose to protest the institution.

Because of this, women who go to Planned Parenthood are often harassed as they walk from their cars to the building, and it’s Darby’s job to make sure they feel safe and comfortable, a sort of safety guard.

“They were threatening these women, telling them how horrible they were, all that. One of our main jobs is just making sure they feel safe,” Darby said. “It really gets to a lot of them since it’s so emotional.”

Darby’s sometimes makes signs and banners for protests, which he does because of his talent for art. Darby says he is passionate about the fine arts, specifically painting, drawing, and 3D art. This is more than a hobby, he says, but not the direction he wants to take in his career.

“My goal, or I guess my dream job, would be working in a hospital with youth,” Darby said. He wants to be a social worker; he’s going to start that process by getting his Associate’s degree in Human Services at Meramec. Then, he’ll have to get his Bachelor’s degree somewhere else, and finally he’ll be certified by the state. He’d like to incorporate art therapy into his career.

So, from the Darby’s point of view, and Alyssa’s, being a boy has very little to do with his story; his real story is that of someone about to take the next step in life.

“Most kids really judge people that aren’t like ‘normal kids’, but Darby doesn’t judge anyone, ever,” Alyssa said. “We can talk about anything; I guess he’s the person I’m closest to.”