When Dezmen Horne dropped out of Eastern Michigan University in his second year, family and friends were naturally concerned. There is a misconception that equates dropping out of university with going off the rails and becoming a no-hoper. This wasn't the case for Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, or other famous university dropouts, and as his nearest and dearest were soon to find out, it sure wasn't the case for Dezmen.
"When a little voice inside tells you something isn't right you should always listen to that voice," explained Dezmen Horne, also known as Dez2fly. "Just as you can't force a circle into a square hole, I soon found out college life wasn't for me, and rather than go for the motions and conform to other people's expectations of how my life should pan out, I decided to take a gamble and pursue my passion."
That passion in Dezmen's case involved making videos. As is common with many of his generation, the 22-year-old from New Jersey was obsessed with watching videos on platforms such as Vine during his teenage years. The likes of Melvin Gregg, King Bach, De Storm, and DC Youngfly were firm favorites but at first, DezmenHorne was bashful about attempting to walk in their footsteps because he suffered from anxiety over what his peers would make of his efforts.
Dezmen explained, "Like a lot of people I lacked the confidence just to get out there and do my own thing. My friends always gave me feedback in everyday life that I was naturally funny. Yet it's one thing to entertain a close circle of friends, and another thing entirely to put something out there for the world and wait for their reaction."
Dezmen need not have worried. Since he began posting videos on YouTube, the positive response from viewers has been overwhelming. He gained 300k followers in less than a year and has even had the rare distinction of having one of his videos sampled on a Call Of Duty advertisement. He's not exactly a shrinking violet on Instagram either. To date, he's gained 100k followers in less than a year.
Dezmen has proved a smash hit not just because he's a natural comedian but because his authentic self shines through. He is also renowned for his unique and motivational quotes which have made a difference in the lives of thousands of fans.
DezmenHorne explained, "I believe we're all on a journey in life and the quotes I post on my Instagram and YouTube videos reflect this. They're all written by me and their theme is about being resilient and overcoming the challenges we all have to face. I've received so much positive feedback from fans telling me how much I've helped them come to terms with their depression and get on top of it. That's the ultimate accolade for me, being able to make someone laugh whilst at the same time letting them know they're not alone and we're all in this crazy world together, striving to make sense of it all, is what I'm all about. A college education could never give me that. I had to plow this path alone."
