Young Girl by Kim Pereboom

Young Girl

That was then, this is now. The little girl didn’t care what anybody thought of her. She didn’t have to worry about her weight or the acne she had to cover up or to focus so much on getting good grades. That was then, this is now. She didn’t have to impress anyone. She looked cute every day. Now she has to wear make up to actually look decent for once. That was then, this is now. When she would cry, it was because she tripped on the playground at recess. Now she cries because she’s being bullied at school and people are calling her ‘fat’, ‘ugly’, ‘bitch’ and ‘whore’. When she would wear long sleeves, it was because she was cold. Now she wears long sleeve‘s to cover up the scars on her wrist. That was then, this is now. When she smiled, it was because she was with her good friends. They would tell jokes with her and she wouldn’t give a care about the world. Now she smiles to put on a “happy face” at school.

 A mask can hide anything. She knows that her friends aren’t real. High school contains some of the most unrealistic people out there. She drags her feet everyday wishing life would move faster. She is ready to move on to something new, something bigger and better. But everyone tells her, ‘don’t wish away your high school career’. She looks back on the times when she would live in the moment and not wish away her life. That was then, this is now. 

Rationale

I chose to merge 2 pictures together because the smaller one is my very first day of school; something big and exciting. I felt like the bigger picture fit perfectly because it’s my last first day of grade school; things are different now. I chose to write about how the times have change in my life whether it be from my smile to my feelings to my cares about the world. I think if the reader knows me, they might be very surprised to read my piece because it’s dark and depressing. Most people think I am happy and cheerful all the time, expect those are the people who don’t look further into me. There are days were I wish I could go back to being a kid and living my best life.

Reflection

Most people would say their personalities change over the span of their life. For many years, they could be living their best life with a good job, a house, food on the table every night etc. But then something bad happens such as the economy crashes or you get into a car accident or a loved one dies or you lose your job. You may not be living the good life after that. People become depressed or very sad within years. Some don’t overcome that struggle, but others do and continue on with their successful, happy life. 

            When listening to “The Personality Myth”, one of the points they mentioned in the podcast was that the personalities of the prisoners was very different than the looks of all them. She was saying if you actually got to know the people in prison, they have a lot to share with you that may not correlate with their appearance on the outside. She claims that some of them were truly genuine people when you sat down and listened to what they had to say. In addition to “The Personality Myth”, “NPR Episode 46: Sissies” had some interesting key points also. For example, “They are like Russian dolls. Many stories inside of themselves.” You don’t realize how many stories people have told and that have formed their background; and shaped them to be the person who they are today.

            Going off of what the speaker said in “NPR Episode 46: Sissies”, it really made me wonder how many stories make up me or who I am? I believe that my identity was formed by my personality, interests, and beliefs. For example, one of our family beliefs is that we go to church every Sunday. I was kind of forced into being catholic. I never really understood why but once I got into high school, I wanted to challenge my faith and try new things. For many years, I have always thought that the catholic faith was boring. It wasn’t what I was looking for. So my sisters and I tried a bible church instead. We immediately fell in love with it. I could actually understand it for once. I got something out of the mass. That being said, we tried to persuade our parents to go to that church, even just to try it out for a couple weeks. They finally went and liked it but they thought it wasn’t right. My mom was raised in a catholic household and didn’t get to choose her religion. That idea is being passed down to us. But when I have kids, I want to let them choose a religion that they are interested in. I don’t want to have my kids go through what I went to as a teenager. They should be able to believe whatever they choose to. With that in mind, hopefully it will form their identity along the way.