Fashion trends, pop music, Instagram and other social media sites are ubiquitous these days. Teenagers become obsessed with trends and pop culture. I, myself, am one of those teens. Recently, I’ve noticed that we are all the same. Every girl that walks the hallways of my high school dress in basically the same clothes. We all listen to the same music and worship One Direction and Justin Bieber. It’s almost as if we are afraid to be different. Those who are, get teased and bullied.

When my fellow schoolmates see someone who is different, maybe someone who doesn’t exactly fall into the modern category of attractive, their first reaction is to laugh or maybe say something rude. To be completely honest, I have done this many times before and I still do it occasionally. It’s a basic instinct. We all do it. However, if I put myself into that person’s shoes and think about how I would feel if my peers were laughing and pointing at me, I just feel completely and totally despondent.

When I was younger, I didn’t really understand that I was a bit different from other kids. I’m Chinese and I live among a sea of American children. In retrospect, I was picked on a lot because my face was flatter than others’ and my eyes were not as big. At such a young age, I never really cared what they said about me. As I got older, more and more of my classmates began to tease me because of my race and ethnicity. I became more and more self – conscious. It may have not bothered me before but now it was hurting me to the point where I did not want to go to school or out of the house.

My elementary school was one where there was not a lot of Asian kids. I felt isolated and alone for most of 4th and 5th grade. I had few friends and the ones that I had still criticized me for my different appearance often. During the nights, I would lie awake and cry because while my peers were playing with their friends, I was home alone because nobody wanted to hang out with the Asian girl.

This went on for quite some time. My parents began to notice my depression and took me to see a counselor. During my sessions, I learned that it was okay to be different and that I should be comfortable in my own skin. It took awhile but I grew a tougher layer of skin. Growing more confident, I began to ignore all comments thrown at me and even gathered a close group of friends.

Although I was not as sad as before, I still felt different. During middle school, I began to adapt to my surroundings. I abandoned Chinese and began to speak only English. I read hundreds of fashion magazines and changed how I dressed, did my makeup and started to curl my hair. I left behind my culture because I wanted to fit in. Giving up my language was a terrible mistake I made because my friends made fun of me when I spoke it. I regret it to this day. I tried to change so I would be accepted among my peers and I learned that it just isn’t worth is.

Even though, being bullied led to me becoming a stronger person, many others have not been so ugly. There are so many stories about teens committing suicide and doing self - harm because of bullying. I understand the pain that they feel and I know how much it hurts. It is truly a horrid act that all humans do. We have all judged somebody because of their differences.

It is okay to be different. It is a great thing! Whether it’s your race or how you dress, you never have to follow the trend. It’s terrible that people will make fun of someone for being unique. I hope that the next time your friends or someone you know bullies someone, you will stand up and say something because this is not okay at all. Everyone is beautiful and nobody deserves to be treated that way.