It all happened when I was in the 8th grade. That year, I learned many things, but the toughest of all was a lesson about life. One I couldn’t have learned in books nor taught by any teacher in the world. I can say things have changed ever since. Yes, it is not easy to ‘not judge’ others, but I learned eventually. I learned to accept things that are different from me and to stop being prejudice.
I was 13 when I met Julian, the new girl in class. Back then, I was the popular girl. Everyone was wrapped around my finger. Mrs. Leen introduced Julian to the class. However, I couldn’t control myself for laughing at her clothes. She was a bit weird. No one even liked to sit next to her, or even speak to her. She was good substance for our daily jokes whether it was what she wore, what she said, or what she ate. What was worse, was the fact that we made it that very clear to her.
However, one day, Mrs. Leen assigned Julian and me on a project together . I was furious; angry by the thought that I would be stuck with her for the rest of the week. I surely had to go to her house several times. Things changed from that moment onward. On my first visit, I was touched by her parents’ kindness. They were simply amazing in every way. As for Julian, she had prepared everything needed for the project. As days passed we started sharing jokes and to be honest she was hilarious. Secretly, I started to like her and eventually hang out with her in the open.
Bottom line, Julian was fun, and I enjoyed her company. I did regret all the jokes made to mock her. I was prejudice all the way. I learned never to judge a book by its cover. We are all different in many ways, and she was just like the rest of us. She became part of the gang, and things were never the same again.