Sycamore

Rant #1

So I'm just gonna jump right into it. Names. Everybody has them. We will discuss them. Ready, go.

People that get made fun of because of their name or the number of names they possess should not be bullied because of it. Some people don't realize that they are born with that name, and even if they wanted to change it, it becomes a part of who they are.

If you run into someone from high school 30 years afterward, and be like "Hey, [their cool name that got made fun of]!", and they changed their name to something more mainstream, honestly, that would just be too awkward.

Your name is a part of you. I'll just use myself for an example. I was named after my Great Great Great something Grandma, Rebekah Elizabeth. This name is obviously not the least common name, but it does seem like an old one.

The spelling is weird, but I have always thought it to be normal. Like the name Becky stemmed from Rebecka somehow (I've never seen this spelling, but it seems cool) and the nickname seems more common than the actual full name.

Which leads me to the next stage of my rant, nicknames, but we will touch on this later, because I need to get this point across first.

Guys, your name is who you are. Your parents didn't name you 'Hey You' so that you can actually be different, and that's the point of all names. Even if your name is one of the most common, you can still differ it from another name!

Back to nicknames. If somebody has known you all your life, and has called you one thing your entire life, they get the reservation to call you that forever, right? That's what I've always thought anyway.

My papa (grandpa, but we call him Papa so again with the names) has always called me Becky. I've gone through stages where I had to have everybody call me Rebekah and stages where I was called Bekah, and even stages where I haven't cared, but my papa's always reserved the right to call me Becky. Nobody else, I guess. It just works with his somewhat- southern accent, I swear. I grew into being a Becky to him, because he's the only Papa I've got (long story, but will probably pop up again in a rant).

Even if I someday tried to change my name, there would always be people I would run into that would call me Rebekah. I know for a fact that at my church, there are so many older ladies that know my name because of all the church plays they've helped with in the past. I don't really know their names, but they sure know mine. Hm, I guess I must've been a character.

In this, I can honestly say I have no shame in my name. My parents had other names lined up for me, but they seemed to choose that one. I could've been an Olivia according to my dad if I were a red-head, but I guess growing into your name is important. Barely anybody can see me as an Olivia now, and I'm proud to be a Rebekah.

Names are stuck with you your whole life. Good ones or absolute horrid ones, this goes to show that first impressions do kind of matter. Like if you bump into your future boyfriend, and he's all like "Watch where you're going, clumsy!", chances are you will have to be 'clumsy' from then on.

Like, I'm not trying to hate on the people that change their names, but honestly, the people that knew you before you changed your name will not see a stamp written across your forehead saying 'don't call me by that name anymore', unless you went out of your way to make that easier, in which if you have, I say a jolly well done to you.

And the new people in your life that only know your 'new' name? Will they figure it out? Probably, if I'm honest, they will. It's not that hard to go on Facebook and see your old profile.

"That which we call a rose. By any other name it would smell as sweet," or however the phrasing is ~Juliet (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare) This quote came to my mind because we have been studying Romeo and Juliet in school, which I think is required of the freshmen.

The rose is you. You will always be the same person whether you change your name or not, so just overall be yourself. If that involves changing your name, so be it (So B. It, great book you should read it). Thanks, Bekah :)

Rant #1