A Young Lady's Puberty Story

Puberty is a name for the time when you start
to change from a child to an adult. Puberty is
normal—it happens to everyone. You'll go
through a lot of changes, but you will still be
YOU—with some important differences. This is
one girl’s story.
I am Thandi and I live in South Africa. When I
turned 13 my skin changed. My back and
shoulders were full of pimples and my thighs
and legs had stretch marks. It was hard to be
happy because I was always so aware of
how bad my skin looked.
I would always wear a cap to cover the
pimples and blackheads on my face,
especially on my forehead. I would wear long
sleeves and a long skirt. Anything to cover
up.
I felt very depressed, because people were
mean to me. Also, I believed that no guy
would want to date a person with such bad
skin, so I stayed at home and didn’t go out
much.
But things changed when I met a guy at my
church. He was sweet to me and after we
had been friends for a while he told me that
he loved everything about me. I could not
believe it!
He helped me look past what was on the
outside. I know I am a good person I just got
so upset about the way I looked that I forgot
to love and care for my body.
I have accepted the stretch marks but I have
started to really look after myself more. I
wash my face twice a day with soap and
water. I exercise and avoid oily food. I know
the pimples will clear up eventually.
I used to cry every day because people were
so mean about the way I looked. But I am
not going to hide behind closed doors
anymore.
I have love and pride in my heart and no
matter what I look like on the outside, am
going to focus on my education and my
future, because that is what is really
important.