The years I spent in Michigan were probably the worst years of my life. There some of my "friends" said things to me that caused me to becoming extremely unhealthy emotionally. They may not have known it, but they said a lot of things that really hurt me and because of it, I lost even more of my confidence.
One time I was singing in my class and my "friend" turned to me and said, "don't quit your day job," then laughed about it. For the rest of the day, I felt like total SH*T.
Then there was my drawings.
Compared to my friend's drawings, everyone thought mine were total crap. They might as very well been stick figures in comparison.
Then there was everything else...
I was always being compared to her, the "perfect" girl. Good grades, bilingual, pretty, talented, artistic, nice, funny. Then me; ok grades, not bilingual, ugly, "talentless", mean, and had the type of humor no one there laughed at. You can imagine what damage that did to me, an 11-year-old girl at the time.
My confidence was shot, my emotions were fragile, and my attitude was sour. I was once told that I never seemed happy, just content, and my "friends" didn't approve of my behavior.
It was a blessing in disguise when I found out I was moving away...
I moved before 8th grade started to North Carolina and now things have gotten better. I have the best friends in the world, sure, we've had our ups and downs, but who hasn't? My confidence has gotten better, people still criticize me, but it's constructive criticism. Plus, my art's become a lot better.
And I've also realized that what those people in Michigan said didn't matter.
I shouldn't have believed a word that they said. They're not professional artists, or singers or anything for that matter. They have no right in saying anything about me. I was stupid for letting it get to my head, at least now I know better.
Why did I tell you this story?
That's simple, to give you this lesson: It doesn't matter what anyone else says, your opinion is the only one that should matter to YOU.
Please everyone, don't make the same mistake I did and let what other people say to you get in the way of what you want to do.
