Have you ever found yourself labeling someone as “crazy” during high school? Or perhaps categorizing them as someone recently discharged from a mental hospital? Because they act against what you preach? Well, labels are a funny thing. They are made-up words to categorize and name things, but they can also have a profound impact on how we see ourselves and how others see us. I have been many things in my life—I was just a passenger 30 minutes ago, an ex-boyfriend a month ago, a high school student labeled “Bonjing,” but what does all that really mean? I was labeled “Bonjing” in high school, and for some reason that was a defining moment for me.
It was a word used to describe someone taller than everyone else, but to me, it felt like a weight on my shoulders. They didn’t mean the literal meaning; they meant someone immature who never grew up past childhood. But I was never that.
Instead, I’m advanced compared to the guys that teased me. I never understood why they needed to label me like that. I spent many nights awake, losing sleep over why God made me the way I am.
I could have been called “smarty pants” because of the way I was acing every exam and coming on top of my class. Yet they only saw the tall guy, not the tall guy who excelled in academics. I had to get through this for six years of high school.
I tried labeling myself on the positive side, even trying to hide myself when I entered a new class every year, but to no avail. I was that popular bei.
