Then...
- 11 years old
- Salt Lake City, Utah
Now...
- 36 years old
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Marketing & Web Director
My Story...
This picture was taken when I was in the 5th grade. I was always the new kid, we moved a lot—I went to 5 different schools for elementary school alone. 5th grade through junior high was the hardest, I had a retainer and my teeth were a mess, in 6th grade I had a terrible haircut -to fix it we had to make it really short and I was mistaken for a boy- my ears were pierced immediately at this point so I could be more girly. I had a lazy eye and glasses with a patch briefly also in the 6th grade. This was when clothes were a big deal Girbaud jeans, Guess shirts, Espirit bags, I even remember sitting in the lunch room being sized up by the brands of everything we wore down to the socks (had to be Gap).
Luckily we stopped moving, I had a good group of friends and a great coach who channeled all this awkwardness into volleyball, skiing, and cross country running. I also had a great dance teacher who helped me to find some grace and posture. By the time high school came around it was the grunge movement, we wore sweatshirts, flannels and boxer shorts to school. I no longer cared who the “in” group was and we just had fun being ourselves. Not to say that high school is easy, there was still plenty of drama and teen angst but the judging and expectations were better and I started to really become me.
[…] What are the strangest pictures you have received so far? I think the strangest picture I’ve seen was from a friend of mine. In her younger picture, she had gone to a photo studio and posed with her cat! I’ve never seen anything so funny, strange, and adorable! Here’s the link: https://awkwardyearsproject.com/submission/cynthia/ […]
That is probably the strangest one I’ve taken so far! There’s something so cute & innocent about that picture. I thought it was really great my friend chose that picture to pose with. It made quite the impression on everyone! :)