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'Wonder'

We've all been there.

By Cheyenne SpringPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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Today, I watched Wonder by Palacio. I didn't know what this movie was going to be about, I just saw the book and thought it would be a good one to read. Since I haven't been able to buy the book, I decided that watching the movie would be good enough for a bit.

I am not going to spoil the movie or the book for those who haven't seen it or read it. I'm just going to tell a story that relates to it. And hopefully when the book is read or movie is watched, you will feel the same as myself. OR maybe, you won't. But one can only hope and that is what I'll do.

I lived in Arizona for almost thirteen years. My whole life was there: friends, family, everything that I had ever known was there. Well, some would say that when you're young things are easy, you aren't supposed to pay attention to the world. As a kid, what makes you happy is the most important thing, you don't really notice all the bad that is around you. But then there are the unlucky few of us, who have experienced the bad side of things.

Bullying was something that happened to kids who had mental disabilities or couldn't talk the right way or had some kind of deformity. I remember seeing so many different kids who had special needs get made fun of just because they were slightly behind than the rest of us.

In high school, there was this girl, I'll call her Lucy, only because I don't want her identity to be known by everyone. Lucy had a mental disability that also came with a facial deformity. She was the sweetest girl. She talked to EVERYONE. I remember one day, she walked up to this couple in the lunchroom and said how cute they were but told the girl to be careful because her boyfriend was actually Lucy's boyfriend and she winked at the both of them. The boyfriend smiled and said "You are my girlfriend too Lucy." The real girlfriend knew that there was nothing going on, because Lucy and the boyfriend were just messing around. But when the boyfriend said those words to Lucy, she had the BIGGEST smile on her face. He made her so happy.

Just a few minutes after that event, I saw Lucy crying in the corner. Apparently there were some younger students who came by and were making fun of her because of how her face was. She had done nothing to them, she hadn't even said hello to them, and they felt the need to hurt her feelings like that. For Lucy, being bullied was common. She knew that people were saying mean things about her, she usually just brushed it off and went about her normal routine. But these kids, went out of their way to make fun of her.

When I lived in Arizona, I had been bullied for two or three years. It was the worst when I was in the fifth grade. The sixth graders gave me a nickname and it is something that I will never forget. Everyday in the fifth grade, I came home from school crying. No one called me by my name anymore, they just called me by the nickname they created for me. In class, when my teacher would call on me, the sixth graders would yell "That's not her name, her name is. . ." And for personal reasons, I am not going to share that nickname mostly because it hurts me to even remember how they destroyed me. They would bring me over to the tetherball courts and they would swing the ball at me & hit me. They would block me from playing on the playground or sitting at the fifth grade lunch table. My friends were no longer friends, they joined in on making fun of me. I cried every day. I would ask my parents every day if I could be homeschooled or if I could do school online. I was miserable & I never wanted to go back to school ever again.

There is only one person, besides the people who made fun of me, who knows my nickname. When I told him, I thought that he was never going to tell anyone. I trusted him & I thought that he wold never use it against me. Well, when we broke up, that was the first thing that he did. He called me by my nickname & destroyed everything about me.

When watching Wonder, I was brought back to what I had experienced in Arizona. I cried a lot while watching this movie, it brought everything that I had experienced to the surface and I relived everything. It was like I went back to the fifth grade. I got a life lesson out of this movie. Although, my lesson and my message that I got out of the movie could have been totally different from the rest of the worlds, I think that this movie should be watched by all.

This movie shows different perspectives of the boys deformation. Because although the boy is dealing with it daily, it isn't only affecting him. It affects everyone who surrounds him. It was sad to watch this movie and see how horrible people were to him. But it was also an eye opener for many different reasons.

We are not the sun.

Not everything revolves around us.

Don't let everyone around you tear down the walls you built.

You are more than what they call you.

You are more than whatever your disability is.

And, most importantly. YOU are loved by many.

humanity
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About the Creator

Cheyenne Spring

I'm a 21 year old female who's body is 95% anxiety & 5% sass.

I want to help people deal with their anxiety and make people laugh. I still haven't learned how to deal with my anxiety but I'm on the road to bettering myself☺

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