POW #1 Mr. and Miss Courtney

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I remember nervously entering Mrs. Eckrote's 1st grade class at Morgan Elementary on the first day of school. I was equal parts anxious and terrified to start a new chapter in my school career. First grade was a huge change for several reasons. Rather than just going for half day kindergarten, I would be going to school all day long. This meant I would be eating lunch at school. I would also be meeting the AM kindergarten students, the other half of my class who attended kindergarten in the morning before I went in the afternoon.

However, my excitement was tempered when I discovered that one of my classmates had an almost identical name to mine.

A female student.

My parents named me Courtney Allam after Courtney Rogers, a Hutch High and K-State basketball player. They didn't know him personally, they just liked the name.

You can imagine the teasing and taunting I was forced to endure when I met my female classmate named Cortney Allmon.

Courtney Allam. Cortney Allmon.

It wasn't bad enough that we had the same first name, but our last names were almost exactly the same as well.

My 2nd grade teacher identified us as Mr. Courtney and Miss Cortney. That didn't stop the ridicule from my friends any time someone confused my name with the female Cortney.

Image by Jonathunder via

CreativeCommons.org

Finally, I decided to take matters into my own hands. When 3rd grade rolled around, I informed my teacher on the first day of school that I wanted to be called "Court". Court sounds more like a guy's name, and it means "of the court". You know, royalty and kings. Much more masculine, right?

The name stuck, and I have been going by it for over 20 years. The cool thing is that I don't recall ever meeting another person who goes by "Court".

Male or female.