when i was 10 years old i was at a swim park with my cousin and my grandma. when we decided it was time for us to get in the water we were so excited and ready to have a fun day. we took off our clothes and our bathing suits were already on underneath. i was so excited for the day, but to this day all i can remember is my grandma saying, "aren't you getting a little to big for a bikini?"
when i was in 7th grade i was wearing school uniform that was put in place so students wouldn't get made fun of. we all had to wear the same thing. polo and khakis. i was wearing my favorite white polo (it was my favorite because it made me look "tan like the pretty girls") until one day, it wasn't my favorite. a boy was behind me and he said, "you wear a large? oh my gosh you really are fat." he read my tag through my shirt. to this day, i rarely wear white.
now i'm in 12th grade. a senior. ready to graduate when a student teacher makes a comment about my weight. maybe he was joking. maybe it was funny, but he doesn't know the things my brain goes to the second i get called "heavy". to this day, i can't look in the mirror and love myself.
we wonder why people struggle with loving themselves. we get told at a young age the things we should and shouldn't wear. we get told throughout our whole lives we don't meet today's beauty standards. you can not tell me that the second you read this you don't have story upon story pop into your head. i shared 3 stories and let me tell you i have hundreds more i could tell. and then we wonder why "that person" is "asking for attention" when they make a comment saying, "i just feel fat today." to this day, no one has taught us how to love ourselves
