Last week I volunteered at a summer camp with kids from ages 3 to 11. We were walking back from a park and I was walking with an 11 year old named Kylie, when she said the above statement. She is the coolest 11 year old I've ever met. She was helpful with the little kids and I sometimes forgot she was only 11 because she acted so mature. As we walked back to the school building where the camp was being held she was telling me about her birthday coming up and about how she thinks she's going to be getting an iPhone. We talked about how it sucks to grow up and how we both we could be little kids again. When I asked her why she wasn't excited to be a teenager she said that she was afraid she would get fat. I became speechless, I did not know what to say. I was dumbstruck that the reason that this intelligent and funny girl did not want to grow up was because she didn't want to get fat. How messed up is that? I told her that just because she became a teenager didn't mean she would get fat, and if she did who cared. It is important to love yourself no matter what you look like or how much you weigh. I hate that this girl who I respect so much feels this way. I wish that I could remove these thoughts from any girls, and boys, who don't think they're good enough or all that matters is they way they look.
Everybody is unique and looks a different way and that is wonderful. I wish people would stop comparing themselves to others. I am by no means saying that I don't do it either, but I try to be as positive about myself and others everyday. I try to appreciate others for what they have and appreciate the different things that I have while not putting others down.
