Junior Amelia DeLamater went to dinner with a friend after dance practice one day. After she and her friend took the picture, a wave of self consciousness swept over her due to her height. She has struggled with self confidence and her height her entire life.
By AMELIA DELAMATER – Print Managing Editor
Junior Amelia DeLamater has struggled with her self confidence about her height her whole life. At 16 years old, she is learning to accept being 5-foot-10.
Last year in Advanced Algebra, we plugged our heights into a math equation that would give us a percentage of the people who we are taller than within our gender. My answer was 99.96 percent.
That leaves .04 percent of women in the world taller than me.
It’s a given fact. I am a tall person. I am 5-foot-10 and a half. I stand out and there is no doubt about it.
It’s a major insecurity for me.
There are days where I wish I was shorter. I don’t want to stand out. When people take pictures, I always make sure I stand by people who are around my height, just so I won’t stand out as much.
Skirts, shorts and pants are rarely long enough.
I get frustrated when I go shopping because it’s extremely difficult to find cute clothes that are long enough. Teachers comment on my dress code and how I have “too much leg showing.”
When I get called out, I feel self conscious. The blood rushes to my face, and I become cherry red.
But I shouldn’t feel embarrassed about my height. It’s not something I can change or hide. It’s something that many people envy. Yet I envy those who are shorter than me.
Why do I envy them?
Why do I blush so much when someone comments on my height? Is it because I am a teenager and just insecure? Will I grow out of this?
I think it’s a combination of the insecurities of being a teenager and not being a confident person. I think it’s something I just have to learn to accept. I can’t change it. It makes me, me, and I shouldn’t be ashamed of it.
