Mikayla Daniels

Real Stories by Mikayla Daniels • January 17, 2022 I was one of those “early Bloomers” and had a B cup before I entered middle school and a C cup by the time I entered High school. The thing you aren’t prepared for when you are a 12-year-old girl is that suddenly you find yourself being sexualized. By Everyone. My male classmates made me feel weird and uncomfortable with my newly acquired figure. What was worse was the adults.

I just want to be normal. These were the words I would say to myself every day growing up. As a child, all I wanted to be was normal. I tried so hard to repress my true self so that I would fit in. I know I’m not alone and that many of us have done the same. After all, it’s human nature to desire to belong. I spent my childhood as an outcast. I would often be alone on the playground as everyone else played in their groups or in pairs.

Here I go again, another MRI and a moment of panic, and I realize I’ll have to be shoved in that small tube again. I’ve had five of them in the last five years, and let me tell you—it doesn’t get easier for me at all. I’m not afraid of small spaces, but there is just something about that particular test that heightens my anxiety and sends me over the edge.