Today someone thought I was the mother of my two year old cousin just because I was walking with him and that's not right!
People like me, kids who went to the school I went to or live near to where I live, not much is expected of us. Today when I was walking with my grandma and baby cousin I saw my old youth group leader, he congratulated me on my baby (don't worry I set the record straight). The funny thing was there was not a doubt in his mind that he was mine. He was convinced. That's what's expected of people like me, that I'll have a two year old child by 19 years old! Don't get me wrong, a lot of the girls I went to school with are on their second child by now so I guess the expectation isn't that far from the truth.
For a time when I was younger, I was bullied, not badly and definitely not to the extent that I know a lot of people are, but words really do hurt. I spent years being told how I wasn't the prettiest, the smartest or the most athletic. I was beaten down and hurt. It's funny but their words have always stayed with me, no matter how far I move in life that's what I come back to.
It's believed that because I work in a fast food restaurant that I'm a drop out, I'm a nobody, that I'm dumb. Nobody bothers to consider the idea that like 80% of the people I work with, we are paying our way through education so we can be somebody in this world.
The amount of times I've been told that because I'm a girl, I won't get the same chances as men in this world. That I should "leave it to the guys" and what's the point in trying because men get paid more anyway!
Today when I was stuck with what to write and close to giving up on my uni assignment, this is what I thought of. All of the people that expect nothing of me! Somehow this gave me the motivation I needed to carry on. I've decided to believe in myself from now on, to believe I'm the opposite of the words that were screamed as me as a child, I am more than just a girl that should have a child by now, I am more than a fast food worker stereotype (and trust me 99% of us are!) and I am DEFINATELY more than anyone who believes that women are not equal to men believes. These words motivate me, they push me to be the best version of me I can be and guess what, that's good enough! I'll let you into a secret you are the only you out there and that is better than good enough!
BELIEVE IN YOU!
Talk to you tomorrow, Chloe xx
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