Little Chinese Girl

Practically every child gets taunted or bullied in some way, even if it's minor. Luckily, I never got it that badly. I guess it could have been because I was part of such a small elementary school; everyone literally knew everyone else. However, I did experience some ridicule when I was between the first and third grades.

The first thing I ever remember someone saying to me about my speech was sometime in the first grade. The older children decided to nickname me "the little Chinese girl". It didn't last long, maybe one or two years at most, but I do think it left some kind of impact on me (especially considering I'm remembering and writing about it 15 years later), albeit a relatively small impact. After all, it's not what made me become practically silent later on. In kindergarten and the first/second grades, I used to get notes on my report card telling my parents that I talked too much in class.

Looking back, I think I understand something about how slowly something can affect you. Like I said above, the "Little Chinese Girl" comments didn't have an immediate effect on me, although I might have realized that there was something a little different about me. However, I think the reason I became so withdrawn over time was due to sheer overload of taunts and comments I'd received as time went on.