Growing up I was a very quiet and introverted child. I constantly felt like and outsider and never really understood why. Even when I was in second grade my teacher notice how I kept to myself and would come in the class room feeling sad and alone. She gathered the kids in that class to cheer me up by saying "we love you yari" when I didn't feel included.
This was the beginning of finding my self in a sea of personalities. There are those that seem to just click in a way that I could not. I enjoyed my alone time though. It was where my mind could wander and my creativity could shine.
As I grew older, I wanted more connections with those around me. Especially when I entered public school. I had a childhood friend that lived next to me growing up. She was the crutch I leaned on my first day. I entered a place that had 10x as many kids as the small private school I came from. It made me feel uncomfortable and lost. It was also the first time I could wear whatever I wanted to school, which lead me to hating myself. Trying to piece together what one would call a cool outfit was out of the question because my mom would buy my clothes and I'd wear them without much question. Now, I entered a place that wore name brands such as Abercrombie and Fitch. Definitely not something my mom was willing to buy because it was so expensive.
So I had to work with what I had in my closet. I hated my closet. It was a mixture of old trends and nothing that was what I saw others wearing. I remembered going to school one day and thinking I looked terrible and that everything on my body didn't compare to what others were wearing. It made me feel like I wasn't good enough and ugly. My self-esteem was torn apart.
I would come home crying to myself until one day my uncle saw me and asked me what had happened. I told him I felt ugly and that I wasn't good enough. He sat me down and told me that I was beautiful no matter what anyone tells me and no matter what I'm wearing. He was a very important figure in my life that contributed to me getting over this struggle with my self. He would constantly remind me of my beauty when he could and encouraged me to see myself that way.
We all struggle as young kids in one way or another, but what can we do to improve the next generation of children. How can we encourage them to believe in themselves and not put limitations that we adults put out there? One thing we should do is encourage children to dream, and to dream big together. We need to remember that if we put our problems on them they will carry them into their lives. It is something that we should be more aware of because the future is bright if we set the tone in how to leaders.
