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Teachers Share The Worst Behavior They've Seen In A PTA Meeting

So sometimes parents can be worse than their students. In fact, most of the time, the parents are way worse than their students. But these teachers have seen hell, and they're ready to caution you about it.


u/danbrownskin asked:

Teachers of Reddit, what was the worst behavior of a parent you've witnessed during a PTA meeting?

Here were some of the stories.



Is Chemo Not Reason Enough...?

I was in the school library catching up on some homework while a PTA meeting was going on. One of the moms, who had a special needs kid who needed extra resources, had been recently missing a lot of meetings for her chemo. Some woman was livid about her absences and not "contributing" to the organization and suggested that PTA should stop "funding luxuries for the child of a parasitic freeloader," which meant the kid would have to go to a different school.

I'm pretty sure she had some other beef with the mom too, and tried to get her HOA to punish her for leaving holiday decorations up for too long.

DonkeyFuji616

Gifts For All

Had a mom get up during a meeting and loudly announce that the school was failing her daughter because her daughter WAS GIFTED and the subjects just weren't holding her attention.......the girl was an okay student, but averaged at a C level because she couldn't quite grasp the subject matter.....the daughter was not present for her mother's announcement (and was a sweet girl who probably would have died a thousand deaths over the spectacle) and the mom just would not sit down, demanding to know what the school was going to do about it, seeing as her daughter was just so superior to her peers.....

DavisSquared

Straight Out Of Parks And Rec

One year we had to hold a special election PTA meeting due to the fact that the former PTA president decided to embezzle the PTA/school funds for personal use.

During the election for a new President, the old President thought it would be a good idea to show up to the meeting to plead her case that she was not a criminal. She ran to the microphone, yelled at everyone that she was framed, told everyone that the FBI was now involved and that we were "ALL GOING DOWN", pulled out a vodka bottle from her purse and threw it at my principal's head (she missed) and then when she was done, got in her car and backed into a fifth grade teachers car, that happened to teach her middle child.

Sadly, that was one of our "good parents" when I taught at that school. Good times.

Scarlett5032

Great Granny Would Not Approve

I watched a mom get into a fist fight with another mom because she accused her of buying store bought brownies for the PTA meeting.

The last thing I heard was "Are you accusing my great grandmother recipe of being store bought" and fist went flying.

dinosaregaylikeme

Grandma Nestle Toulouse has legendary brownies

KCDJay72

My school's not allowed to have potlucks anymore..not since last year when they tried to have Black History Month potluck where the teachers brought stuff and left in the staff breakroom. Somebody got offended because one of the black teachers (there's only like I think 2) offered to bring watermelon. OFFERED. Wasn't told "Ok. YOU'RE bringing the watermelon." She offered.

KnockMeYourLobes

Just Have A Life, Mom

Not at a PTA meeting, but every time I enter grades within 10 minutes I'll get an email from the same mom asking why her daughter didn't recieve a 100%. We've learned to document everything.

unko19


This is the worst. I think technology is a wonderful thing, but these online grading systems and email seem to have made people think that teaching is a 24/7 job. We don't get paid enough to do that, but that never crosses their minds

BlandThings

Parents like this are the reason I no longer teach. Once had a parent email me 8 times a day over Christmas break, including Christmas Day itself, asking about her kid's B on a final exam. I decided right then I couldn't be a teacher and deal with ducking lunatics like that.

Edit: I refused to check my work email over the break. Grades were done and in, and everyone was as up to date as possible. Neither the mother nor I could do anything to "fix" her kid's B during the two weeks the school was closed. I only saw she had emailed me so much once we got back to school, and I forwarded them all to the principal and counselors, who dealt with her crazy bullshit. I now hate the idea of teaching with a passion. I'd rather shove my hand in a meat grinder than deal with entitled asshole parents of kids ever again.

whenevertheycome

I've got a good one and a bad one. I'll let you decide which is which.

Number 1: I had a really bright student, but this was back when technology was really starting to get prominent. He was more interested in that than in my class. Therefore, when interim grades came out, he ended up with a C in my class. Now this was a student who was a senior and in his entire life had never received anything less than an A. Grades went out, with parent-teacher conferences the following week.

Well this was a small area, and I knew the mother and that she would be coming in to see me. I was working an after school program at the time, so fortunately I could not be in my classroom. I tried to hide, but she hunted me down. I saw her coming and just dreaded the onslaught that was about to occur.

She shook my hand and thanked me, because she knew that her son needed to realize that he couldn't skate through life and needed to experience some failure before going to college.

Number 2: I caught 2 guys cheating. Now if I catch you cheating, I will make sure that I have documents (and my personal copies of them) to back it up. So I wrote them up for cheating. Within an hour after that, the mother of one of the students came up to my classroom pounding on my door and confronted me about writing her child up for cheating -- meanwhile her son is sitting in the room taking a test!. I finally calm her down, since lunch is right after, and we meet in the principal's office. She is still not happy, and still cussing me out. We finally get her out, as I have to go back and teach.

Planning period at the end of the day, I get called into the conference room. Now the dad has showed up. So I am in there with the mother, the father, and an assistant principal. I laid out my case, and the father literally came at me over the conference table to punch me. If the assistant principal hadn't intervened, he probably would have.

I still have mad respect for that principal.

NOTE: I know the second one is not a special parent-teacher meeting. It was just extreme to me. Also, the parents of the other students met with me and simply asked me if I was going to look at or treat their child any different. Of course the answer was "no." I liked both of these students tremendously, and we all got along very well before and after. I wrote letters of recommendation for both for college. They learned their lesson, I just wish the one set of parents would have.

BlandThings

Suspension

A kid pushed a girl down the stairs and then kicked her. At the PT meeting, his mother fought tooth and nail to defend him. Kept saying how the girl probably deserved it for 'provoking' him (she was just going down the stairs, f*ck you). Extremely rude, up in your face attitude, coupled with shouting out of her mind eventually caused us to kick her out of the meeting. Her son did get that suspension, though they switched schools later that year.

itellteacherstories

Don't Mess With Moms

Not a teacher, but I went to high school in an inner city area with a lot of gang activity. One time, two of the gangs got into a small gang war, and people kept on beating each other up in the hallways.

This meant there were a lot of kids who had their parents called to come and pick them up from school all at once.

I was eating lunch in the cafeteria while 3 of these parents (all moms) proceeded to get into a loud, screaming fist fight right in front of the office doors and a cafeteria full of hundreds of kids. It was wild.

rahrl

Body Cam Junction, What's Your Function?

Had a meeting with the mom of a 6th grade boy who is still a total nightmare last year. She shows up to the meeting 20 minutes late and immediately sets up her laptop and wireless mouse insisting that she still must get work done since she typically works from home. She never touched the laptop once the meeting got going, but she did defend her son at every turn insisting that it's the teachers picking on him. By the end of the 15 minute meeting she still didn't touch the computer, didn't believe any of the teachers "accusations," and wanted the boy to wear a body-cam to school to "see what was really going on." Fortunately, a Dean explained to her why that was ludicrous and wouldn't happen.

ez_squezey

Whatcha Taco-ing About

I was organizing a fundraising event for the school and the pta President stood up and laughed when i said I wanted to accept a generous donation of local tacos instead of buying Costco cheez whiz and chips to sell. She shut me down after stating tacos wouldn't happen with "moving right along!" Another parent told me she had told a group of parents that I was "off my meds" crazy, and there was no way anyone would donate tacos. 🤷🏼♀️

Zyla_Wilde

Based on the comments so far, I think we need a Parks and Recreation-style show about PTA parents.

biotinylated

Tracy Jordan as the head of the PTA. Tina Fey is an overworked teacher. Amy Poehler is her nemesis, and a pushy helicopter mom.

Basically I want Mean Girls with less Lindsay Logan and more Tracy Jordan. Someone write Sue Sylvester a part.

invigokate

Sikh Day

Was at a PTA meeting. The PTA at my daughter's school is basically stereotypical, almost sitcom like.

There were 4 or 5 of us that would show up and just kind of sit in the back and listen, because everyone else was busy talking about nothing that really mattered.

One of the other fathers was Sikh. He wore a Turban. Was a really nice dude to talk to, down to earth. So we'd find each other during the meetings so we could sit and talk about stuff. He worked in a tech-field as do I, so we'd sit and talk about tech, upcoming tech and just generally BS with each other.

One day, one of the Moms walked up and was like super-chipper, like over the top enthusiastic.

She said "Just so you know, we're accepting of all races and religions, even Muslims."

I started to cringe.

The father replied with "I am Sikh."

She responded with "Well, I am really sorry to hear that, I hope you feel better." and then bee-bopped back to the front of the meeting.

I was full on cringe at this point, like I was worried I was going to stay that way forever.

He slowly turned and looked at me, like I had some explanation for it. I just apologized and he said "It's not your fault."

I eventually stopped going to PTA meetings.

After I stopped going to the PTA meetings my daughter had told me his daughter asked about me. Evidently our kids hung out and I didn't even know.

Turns out he lived like a block over from me, and my daughter and his daughter hung out. They weren't like best friends, but they were friends.

I was driving by his house one day and saw him in the front yard and stopped to talk to him. I asked him how he was doing and he said "I'm feeling a little sick." and then shot me a look.

He had a killer sense of humor about the whole thing.

I chit chatted with him numerous times after that when I saw him. I'd stop to talk and his wife would feed me curry. Once my eyeballs stopped being on fire, we'd chit chat some more.

He and his family ended up moving to a newer development closer to his job. He has my number and I have his, we just kind of fell out of communication.

DoctorWhoToYou

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.