PHOTO COURTESY: LITA J THOMAS
Has anyone ever been judged or underestimated based on their appearance? I have. There has been many times in my life when i was told that i am not strong enough to handle certain things in life because of what i appear to be. People say this because i am shy, quiet, and look like I could still be in middle school, even though I am really in my 20’s. And it doesn’t help that I am only 5’4, weigh less than 110 pounds and have braces on my teeth. This is why people may look at me and think that i am just a little girl who hasn’t experienced anything in life yet. Well, this “little girl”,who is a college graduate and registered nurse, has been through a lot in the past several years. For instance, I had to prove to my supervisors at my current job that I was able to handle the work load on the rehab unit at a nursing home, which is the most difficult assignment in the building. They thought that I wouldn’t be able to handle the task at hand because I appear to be very timid. One of the supervisors didn’t believe that I would make it through orientation.
Well, I sure proved her wrong!! I have been working at the nursing home for a year and two months now. I saw people who were nurses longer than I was quit while they were still on orientation, but the new nurse who looks like she is too young to even work managed to make it through.I was also underestimated on sports teams as well. My assistant coach on the college track team didn’t believe that I was good enough to be on the team. He gave me the least amount of attention at practices because I was not as fast as the people who were on scholarship. He didn’t even want me to run on one of the relays because he thought that I would make the time of the relay slower. I had to prove to him that I belonged on the team. At the championship meet, I ran on the relay and we ran the fastest time of the season and we managed to score and make it into the top eight. Also, I managed to run my best time in the 400 meters that day. I clocked in at a 59.11. That was a big deal for me because I never ran under 60 seconds in the 400 meters before. After the championship meet, the assistant coach showed me more attention at practice and made me feel like I belonged on the team.
This goes to show that appearance tells little about what a person can handle. I may be shy and quiet, but I am very determined to be the best in whatever I do and I don’t believe in giving up. This “little girl” has a lot of fire inside of her. Therefore, you should never judge a book by its cover.
BY LITA J THOMAS
