Undergraduate / "Ai ya why you so skinny? You need to eat more!" - quality, talent UC [2]

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

"Ai ya why you so skinny? You need to eat more!" This was the remark I always heard from my relatives who saw me when I was young. They still make such comment until today. Ever since I was a little girl, I had always been the tiniest person in the class. I weighed only about 46 pounds when I was in fourth grade. I didn't know how skinny I really was until I immigrated to America when I was in fifth grade. Once in United States, my pediatrician told me that my weight was in the lowest percentile compared to children of my age. One might think that my weight did not really have any effect on me, but it certainly did. Everyone thought I was weak and fragile which made me feel useless and affected my self-esteem.

After living in America for a few years, my weight was significantly increased to 80 pounds because my relatives kept forcing me to eat. Although I gained more weight, people still thought I was skinny. Whenever someone asks if he or she knows who I am, the common response will be, "Yes, I know her. She is that quiet and skinny Asian girl." Most people think I am weak and shy because of my size. In order to prove that people should not judge others based on the appearance, I joined water polo team during my freshman and sophomore years in high school. People are surprised to learn that I did water polo for two years because it was a very intense sport. I may be skinny but I am not weak and fragile. Even though I was not a great water polo player and experienced hard times in the beginning, I determined to continue playing the sport to show that I am capable of doing tasks that required intense physical strength.

Additionally I joined Key Club, a community service club that helped me gain confidence in myself. Being a member in Key Club, one would learn to make contribution to the community and make it a better place to live. However, the personal experience I gained the most is completely different. I used to start shaking and stuttering when I did presentations in Key Club workshops and Officer Training Conference. I was not able to speak clearly and started repeating same information. Through experiences in Key Club, I became more confident in public speaking. Currently, I am the president of the club. The services I did in Key Club provide the opportunities to improve my interpersonal skill and my organizational ability in public presentation.

Being in these activities has helped me grow significantly. Through experiences from different activities, I have built up my self-esteem, have developed stronger public speaking skill, and have cultivated leadership ability. I am not that girl who is skinny, quiet and just sits in the back of the room.