ENGL 475: E-mail Responses [7:30-9:45am]Some of my teachers and family members would use to call me lazy because they wanted to make me realize that if I keep this up I’m not going anywhere with my life.

Being told you are a follower isn’t the greatest thing to hear, especially if it’s from some you called your “Best friend”. This however did not affect me because I know the person that I am. Know yourself and know your worth, and if they don’t see what you see in yourself, reconsider who they are to you. I have an Uncle that used to call me stupid all my life. He used to say I would amount to nothing; that I was ignorant and lazy and just worthless. I hated him for it because when I was younger I used to believe it.

I proved to this guy without saying or tell everybody that I was superior to others. Learn from mistakes and keep moving on and keep motivated.

I wanted to make sure that my grandpa never made me feel like that again, instead I used "stupid idiot" to my advantage and did better in everything I did. My grandpa passed away last year and now all I ever think about is “will this make him proud of me?”

My mother has always had high expectations of me so meeting her standards was very difficult at times. She’s always labeled me a “loser” or “lazy” or not “motivated” because of how far my relatives have gotten in life or how her friend’s kids are doing.

I got a very disturbing text messages from one of the senior girls, saying that I was a "slut" "whore" any degrading name you could think of. I went home that day in tears not knowing what to do, or how to go about things, knowing that I had done nothing wrong.

People labeled me as a looser or in other words a "Junkie". The feeling of being less than others because of my addictions brought to low points in life, I felt worthless and soon believed I would never be able to kick this addiction.

When I was around 14 years old I was labeled as what I felt a thug… I felt like less of an individual after than while it was happening because I was still in shock.

I was recently called lazy by my coworker and this person had the nerve to tell my manager. Being called lazy is a thing that I don’t appreciate being called because I’m nowhere close to being that especially at my job.

At the end of the class he told me, “You know, I’ve seen you around school and you seemed stuck up, but you’re actually cool to talk to.” Someone is always going to think negative of you or not like you. You can’t please everyone. I’m honestly the type to just block the negativity and try not to make others opinions bother me no matter how bad it may be.

In High school I was labeled as a ''NOBODY'' by my friend… she would compare my life to herself and would say comments that would always bring me down. I still remember so clearly when she told me, "Cely you’re a nobody compared to me" and started laughing.

As a result of that they called me lazy, they would say I wouldn’t amount to nothing, or their favorite phrase “you’re going to end up with not a pot to piss in”… I can’t let someone else hold me back from a great and successful life, because at 30 or 40 years old I can’t be rattling a can asking for spare change and still blaming my parents for my misfortunes. I woke up one day and told myself “I am going to take over my mind, my body, and my destiny.”

In my family it is kind of known as a normal thing to have big hips and thighs, until I went shopping with my grandmother and she decided to tell me that I have a big butt and hips… Now I have learned to embrace it and I have realized that I am not fat at all, I am healthy and that is all that matters.

Robert C. Nazar, Chaffey College

She said that I was good for nothing that I would never graduate high school or get into college… So in a way I am thankful she said that because it also taught me to be stronger and to not let those things get to me because my education is more important than any comment anyone has to say.

As a child I was always made fun of because of my weight I was called piggy, fatso, or they’ll laugh at the hair cut my mother gave me or because I’d have to wear the same clothes for a week. I hated school. I hated being poor. I hated myself. I hated living.

I was once labeled lazy by my dad. It wasn’t that he called me lazy that depressed me it was that he called me a loser. It made me feel like I was a leech that wasn’t going anywhere in life and just using my family to get by in life.

One time I was labeled a white washed black person… I never really thought my personality was different than anybody else’s and I didn’t know that other people that weren’t black knew how black people were supposed to act. I think they watch too much BET or something.

Being a loser and unworthy was something I was always called while playing soccer. The sad part about it was that the people that would call me this where on my very own soccer team I would play in when I was fifteen.

Most “jocks” or in other words athletes are known to be lazy or incapable of being both book smart and incredibly athletic. To most people they see it as one or the other.

I was very misunderstood in high school and people used to call me lazy and unmotivated… I feel that having that dark time has helped me learn a lot about myself. I learned that I can do anything if I truly believe in myself. Hard work and dedication was all I needed.

I remember on the first day the instructor called every single one of us a lazy and unmotivated bunch of delinquents; saying most of us wouldn't pass the class or even the first day. I took his insult personal because he has no idea who I am or what I am capable of.

My dad would call me lazy. To this day he still does, I don’t believe it is intentional to hurt me maybe it is used to push me to go further but he has a funny way to show it. .. This particular label had made me feel ugly inside.

They called me things like ‘bratty’, ‘rude’, and ‘a bitch’. At first I tried to not let it affect me, but soon enough I cracked. It made me feel like I was a bad person that didn't deserve the friends I had.

My mom wasn't so into to the idea that her youngest daughter was a marijuana known as a fucken "pothead"… I was consistently reminded that I was a pinche marijuana of course my mom made it seem like I was the worst of the worst. As if I was a drug addict or a bum something I should of felt ashamed or disgusted of.

The one word I get labeled as all the time is “weird”, and to this day, I take that word as a compliment. Whether it is about my hair, or my personal interests, a lot of people have considered me weird… I never try to convince them that I’m not weird, because in truth, I am, everyone is, because weird is unique.

When I was a teenager I remember always being bullied about my body image. People used to call me anorexic and bulimic… I couldn’t do anything about my appearance. I remember trying to gain weight and over eating to do so. Yet it was very hard to gain that weight. People were calling me Olive from the movie Popeye for the way I looked to them.

I do not believe I am useless in any way shape or form but hearing it from my own grandmother I had to second guess myself, but in the end I know I'm not and I will never believe that word coming from anyone because no one knows what I went through and how much I had gone through.

Call me dumb as I work harder in school. Call me lazy as I push myself at work. Call me ghetto as I embrace who I am but know I'm just as or not more intelligent than anyone around. Call me anything as I become stronger for it.

Robert C. Nazar, Chaffey College