My name is Jules Klein, I’m 10 years old and I live in California. I do competitive cheerleading, play the drums, and love to surf like a lot of people in California. But I am also different from a bunch of people because I have a mark going up from my belly button to just below my chest. I’ve had it since my birth and everybody always asks me if they can see it. When people ask me about it I just get annoyed because it is part of who I am and I don’t see it as anything that people should worry about. Other people ask and decide to make me different from them by making a big deal about it. They always have a worried look and sometimes when they first ask my mom tells them they can’t believe what happened to the shark I got into a knife fight with. It makes me laugh when she says that, because they look like I must have a something incredibly wrong with me. If I did have a serious health issue I wonder how they would reply. I understand people are nosy but they should think before they ask.
I also have friends who ask me what it is but they do not judge me by having it. Luckily I have never been made fun of because of my mark but often I wonder what would happen if I didn’t have it. I feel really bad for those kids who have a visible differences who do get made fun of. It makes me look out for those people more and make sure they are not being made fun of. I have a lot of friends that don’t care about difference, which is awesome. Right now my feelings are that if someone does ask me, I don’t worry. I have come to learn that it’s a part of me that I cannot change and is what makes me, me. So I do NOT HIDE IT – I FLAUNT IT!
