Once upon a time, there was a gawky young girl with a bedazzled jean jacket, wire-rimmed glasses, and awful hoop earrings. She was not only starting her first day at the middle school, but also on the bus. She didn’t realize that lunch boxes were no longer cool when she climbed the metal steps onto the bus and heard the giggles as she sat down and realized no one else had one. So, began what felt like the worst few years of her life.
I think everyone has had their fair share of awkward middle school years, but it feels like you’re so alone when you are actually going through them. Truth is, this is the time in everyone’s life where it just plain sucks: Your body sucks. The new “work load” sucks. Bullies suck. If there was one thing that I could tell my middle school self is it gets better, well sort of.
It does get better in the sense that once you get to high school and beyond, you tend to figure out what you’re all about. You realize the things that you like and what makes you who you are. I’m not going to lie to you, puberty is not like one day you wake up and BAM, you’re drop dead gorgeous. There are still days where you think you look like a potato, but you learn the magic of makeup and how to not make yourself look like a clown. I embrace the fact that I will never look like Scarlet Johannsen and that’s ok! Being comfortable in your skin is something that comes with age and something I definitely did not understand in middle school.
When it comes to the work load I wish I thanked my lucky stars back then because there is so much work to be accomplished now than there was in middle school. I mean, COME ON, there was Home Ec.! You know what that’s called now? Life! It’s something that you have to do every single day without a class and fun activities (although I still have never had to actually balance a checkbook). It definitely gets harder here on out, but you start to learn things that you will need for a future career. Even though sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, it will be worth it.
Bullies. In every classroom, every school, and every community; they exist. They’re the worst, right? Even when I think back on those people that bullied me in middle school, I start getting a tad angry. That’s how awful it feels for someone to get bullied, especially at such a difficult time in their life. If there was another piece of advice I could give myself back then, it would be “F@$! Them!” Keep that head held high, even when they say hurtful things about your ponytail or your crazy style, rock it anyway and ignore them. Their opinions of you won’t matter in the long run nor will they even remember years from now that they treated you that way. Awhile back I was contacted on FaceBook by one of my past bullies in middle school asking me out. It may be a little petty, but it felt good denying him. My middle school self would have been proud!
It may suck now…it may really suck, but you’ll get through it. You will make some awesome friends and eventually be proud of who you are.
Sincerely,
Me
