When my parents were naming my oldest brother, they chose his full name (Joshua Matthew Glick) to match my father's initials. They tried to do the same thing with my second brother, but couldn't agree on an "M" middle name they both liked, so they ended up with "Jordan Taylor Glick". Add two sisters to the mix (Jessica and Jacquelin) and we may as well just change our last name to "Duggar"!
I always felt like the odd one out with all the "J" names running around, but as I've grown up, this definition has come to be a part of my personality I wear with pride.
I am odd. My family and closest friends all know this. But they love me anyway. Not everyone feels the same sentiments towards me, unfortunately, and it hasn't always been easy to be myself. I moved to North Carolina the summer before I started eighth grade. I was twelve years old. I had moved many times in my life, but never to a new school, so I was understandably nervous on my first day. I was always known as the "social butterfly," talking to and making friends with everyone I met. I thought if I was myself, people would appreciate me for all my crazy quirks. They didn't.
It was obvious right from the beginning that kids didn't like the "real me". So I tried to be someone else. I saved the "real me" for when I was at home, with my mom, and tried to be like all the other kids at my school. But putting that costume on every day before leaving for school was an exhausting task. It was a really tough year. I didn't realize it at the time, but trying so hard to be someone I wasn't, turned me into someone I wasn't. I went from being a happy go-lucky, optimistic kid, to being a sad, lonely kid, desperate for a friend.
I can honestly say that Millbrook High School saved my life. Transferring to this school not only allowed me to be the person I truly was, but also shaped me into something so much better.
Hailey is just a name. It's not who I am. I am odd. Quirky. Loud. Passionate. Nerdy. Crazy. And I've learned to love every bit of that. To those of you reading this right now...thank you so much for being a part of that. Thank you for showing me that it's okay to be myself. And to anyone who has or is currently struggling with a similar issue, I leave you with these words:
“Please, be proud of the pieces that make you, you. Embrace the oddities and hold onto them with everything you have. These strange little quirks belong to us, and only us, and they are all absolutely vital in creating the bigger picture that is who we are. Be proud of yourself, because if you are, it never matters who else is. Because when you are, the inevitability of other people believing in you and being proud too, is such an amazing bonus to the strength you already possess."
-Tyler Knott Gregson
Hailey!!! First off, you ARE awesome, no matter what you are named. Secondly, I completely agree with your statement that your name does not define who you are. Once a person gets to know another person, they are not thinking about his/her name in order to make judgements about whether or not to form a friendship, but his/her personality. However, one might impose small judgements on a person based on primarily seeing the person's name and never actually meeting the person. For example, if you know a smart boy named Roger, you might subconsciously tend to think the next Roger you meet will be smart until you get to know him! (This might be silly, but I find myself doing it all the time!) Great post Hailey!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marin! (: I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I always appreciate the kind words. I have actually heard of people doing EXACTLY what you just described. I have a friend named Karl. He told me a story the other day about a girl who refused to talk to him just because of his name. People are so silly sometimes. We judge people so harshly for things they have no control over (name, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.). Sometimes I wish the whole world was blind. Then we could only judge people based on their personalities/thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this phenomenon occurs. I often associate previous personalities and people with the names they are associated with. For example, after meeting a mean Emily, I don't like the name because I always associate it with the person. This happens a lot when people say "I can't name my kid that, I didn't like that person growing up." I think this also happens with other things, not just names. For example the stereotype that all blondes are stupid probably was started by someone meeting a dumb blonde and then making the assumption that all blondes must be stupid. I personally try very hard not to do this because I feel this is not positive, but I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn't. I really loved your post Hailey, and remember, YOU ARE AMAZING (no matter your name or hair color)!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI never really made that connection before! I definitely have a long list of "cannot name my child" names. I don't think names define people as much as people define names. That's a great connection to stereotyping though...I guess I might have to rethink that list. Thanks for the kind words and comment, Marian! (: You are fabulous!
ReplyDeletePowerful response- thanks for sharing, Hailey!
ReplyDeleteI early enjoyed reading this response! It is very inspiring as well as encouraging in the way you wrote it. I dont know if you meant for this to happen or not but your writing parallels the qualities you described yourself as in this article, 'Quirky,' 'Passionate,' 'Crazy,' and that was pretty interesting to read. It is really week written and I enjoyed learning about your story!
ReplyDeleteI often write as I speak so I find it interesting that my writing also embodies my personality. I have never noticed it before! Glad you enjoyed the post, Nathania. Thanks for reading! (:
DeleteI agree with your statement that you are odd.
ReplyDeleteOkay but no, cross that out, I was kidding.
Anyways, I found your response very enjoyable to read. You are always very passionate when you write, expressing how you feel and it's always very interesting as well as informative whenever I read your writing. Even the tangent these comments went off onto was very enjoyable to read. Now I feel like I have a lot to think about after reading that whole spiel.
Thanks for reading, Sam!! :D I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I'm really glad my passion comes through in my writing. Sometimes I have a hard time showing it with prompted writing. But I'm doing my best!
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