How Swords Changed My Life

11:26 AM

by: Amanda R.



In my childhood I used to be something similar to a nerd/geek girl. I had friends, and no problems of any kind in school, but I have always been the kind of ''know it all'' girl, the most serious and formal in class, the most mature, so I was tagged as ''weird'' sometimes. When I started growing up, and adolescence started, it all came: acne, braces on my teeth, and hormones which made my eyebrows look much thicker and made my weight increase a little bit. I also used to wear my hair in a ponytail, and wear the things my mum wanted me to (long skirts, corduroy pants, reindeer and snowflake sweaters...) so, just imagine. When I started highschool, I wanted a total change on my life.

It didn't happen until I was thirteen. I had been doing swimming and practising some different sports, but any of them provided the radical (specially psychological) evolution I wanted on me. Then, I discovered fencing thanks to the last Olympics and because a classmate practised it, so, I decided to leave all my dancing lessons and swimtrack to try it out.

At first, I thought it would be easy, not because of the sport (it was all really new to me. I started from zero) but because I knew someone there, that classmate. But, mistake: nobody wanted to know  about me, and who was the interesting ''new girl'' on the first lessons, started being the joke of the other kids for my appearance (remember: dental braces, light acne, and about two kilograms more on my hips...) and because I was very shy. They gently started laughing at me, stopped talking to me, or saying bad things at my back, gossiping... It was a kind of school bullying. I remember finishing the training lessons crying, telling it to my family, because I started loving the sport and the sword things, but nobody seemed to realize my effort to fit on the group. I forgot about the ponytail, started loosing the weight I didn't need, but the harder I worked, the stronger they hated me.

I finally got fed up about them, and when the next season started I changed to another fencing club. I thought very seriously about leaving and forgetting about swords and white clothes, but I really thought they would have won the game if I have done that. So I finally moved on, and started on the other place, with new people I never heard about. Without acne, and with no dental braces anymore, I decided to  be myself but a little more outgoing, and not to tell anything about the other club at the beginning. I became the new girl again, but little by little, training by training I started asking questions to the other girls, I started talking briefly about my life, school... I met everyone there, and about a month after, everybody shared music with me, wanted to talk, or visit my Facebook profile.

Three years later, I realize how fencing and that opposite beginnings have changed my mind and my way to see things. Now I don't care about the kind of people I met and who laughed at me just because I was shy, or because they envy me, I don't know exactly. Thanks to the new club, I started being more outgoing, I started shouting and laughing in the training lessons, flirting with the boys, and gaining the self-esteem I needed to become more confident and more caring about my appearance. Three years later, what started as a nightmare has turned into a tale with a happy ending.


Amanda's Interview:


What made you decide to join Spring of Hopes and share your story?


Amanda: I think my story can be an example for other people who aren't confident enough, or who are living a situation similar to the one I lived. I think my story could help them to not give up, and fight for whatever they want to.


What lifelong lessons have you learned from this tough times? joyous times?


Amanda: I learnt how to put more self-esteem on my life, and how to use it to change my way to see the things around me. I also learnt about not paying any attention to people who envy you and only wants the worst for you.


If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would that be?


Amanda: I wouldn't have let some people to laugh at me on that way, and I would haven't let others to have such control of my life.


What have you learned over your lifetime that you'd like to share with the younger generation?


Amanda: I have learned that it doesn't matter how you are, you can always shine if you put some effort on the things you love to do. Don't give up, and fight. Always fight if you think its worth it.


How do you learned from that life lesson?


Amanda: Taking advice from the people who really cares and loves me, my family and friends, and also, from the different experiencies I lived on my childhood and adolescence.


Do you feel like you missed out on opportunities to experience things you otherwise would not ever experience?


Amanda: No, I don't. I think I took advantage of the opportunities I had, but I had some bad luck at the beginning. I worked hard, and I finally got what I was searching for.


Who is Amanda R. in person?



Amanda: I think she's a shy but very energetic girl, who has her heart divided mostly into fashion and sport. Friend of her friends, classy and proud to be brunette. A vintage fashion lover, cosmopolitan girl leaving in a little city near the sea.


What is your blog all about? What made you decide to create such blog?
Amanda: My blog is mostly about fashion, what I wear and what happens on my life. It started as a kind of diary on a trip to Boston, US, when I lived for a month last summer. I really needed to talk about my lifestyle on that city, and I've always been a big fan of fashion so, I decided it was time to share my life to the world.








About Amanda:


Amanda is an 18 yrs. old beautiful girl from Valencia, Spain. Her interests include Fashion, Fencing, photography, Portraits, make-up, D.I.Y

Get a daily dose of her life and Fashion by following her blog at http://somethingfashion.blogspot.com/  

and hype her look at http://lookbook.nu/ammy_94




Do you have an inspiring story to tell? It may be about Love, Family, Heartbreak, Disappointment, Hopes, Tragedy? feel free to contact me at dgranada143@gmail.com





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