Before and After

Are you happy with your name?

I remember during my kindergarten days when I wished that my name was Sylvester after watching a Rambo flick. I even asked my mom if they could still change it. Of course, that silly idea of mine was immediately dismissed. Luckily I wasn’t scolded when I brought up the topic again after watching the first installment of Rocky.

I’m already happy with my name (I’ll keep you guessing as to what my name is :) ). It is common, but at least I don’t get teased because of it. I had a classmate named Wilbur. As you know, this name is associated with a pig. The fact that he was fat did not help his predicament. As expected, he got a lot of “oinks” from some of our boisterous classmates.

I ran a people search on him a couple of years ago and I was very surprised to see that he was a member of his college’s football team! He still sported a heavy built though, but the baby fats were definitely gone and were replaced by muscles! It was quite frightening, actually.

It is quite amazing how one’s appearance changes over time. I hardly even recognize my classmates in kindergarten and middle school. I’m happy though, that most of those who were teased because of their name or looks turned out to be gorgeous beings upon reaching college. I hope that those who mocked them before could see what they’ve become right now. I’m sure they would eat every word that they’ve said to those poor guys and girls.

It’s fun searching for old friends and classmates. It’s like looking at a “before-and-after” beauty salon project. I wonder if their character also changed. I hope not. If it did, I wish it’s for the better.