15 Letters

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 Oh my god, how do you spell your last name,” people would ask me whenever they saw or heard it (it was mostly my teachers or substitutes). It wasn’t my first name that they couldn’t say but the fascination of how many letters are in my last name. For the record, my last name is “Kalyanasundaram,” which is 15 letters. I guess I’m not too surprised cause I have lived with it my whole life, but I think it makes sense for other people to be shocked, especially with all the short names like Jacks and Nicks in the United States. I remember a specific moment in 5th grade. It was around February and our teacher wanted to get us all valentine gifts. So, my teacher made all of us check the spelling of our last names. As he spotlighted everyone’s names on the smart board one by one one last name caught everyone’s eyes for it barely fitting on the board (yep it was my last name). At that time I felt stupid and weird for not fitting in with the rest of my class, but the more I lived with it and grew up, I started to accept it. I realized that I don’t have to assimilate myself fully into this new culture and environment that I moved into. I don’t need to be a Lily or an Emma, I can be me, the short, long last named, weird, and funny girl. This is not just for me, but for all the people out there who think they have to shape or change themselves to mold in with the others. Please don’t and embrace yourself for who you truly are at heart.


(Pic incoming it’s not uploading)

(Pic: the gift that our teacher made with our last name on it)

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