I believe in being yourself. You should be yourself around everyone no matter what. You shouldn’t be something someone else wants you to be, because then that really wouldn’t get you anywhere. Also don’t be like someone else so they can like you. You should really be yourself at all times. Believe it or not most people will not like if you try to be like them or anyone else. Its always best for everyone to be themselves.

There really isn’t any specific day when I learned to be myself, I just learned it throughout junior high. I learned that everyone is different and no one can tell you who to be. In seventh grade I had some friends that tried to tell me who I could and couldn’t hang out with, which was I couldn’t hang out with anyone else but them. I didn’t like that so decided to leave them and make new friends, but obviously they didn’t like that. I really didn’t care at that point. I wanted to make new friends that wouldn’t tell me what to do or who I can and cannot talk to. I also believe you should be yourself around boys if you’re a girl, and girls if you’re a boy. The person is going to like you for you, not for what you think they want you to be. If you’re mean, funny, nerdy, whatever you are just be yourself. There is always going to be people that like you and people that don’t like you. Don’t let the people that don’t like change you, so they can like you. I’ve figured out who I really am after I met my best friend Kelsey. She’s not scared to be herself sometimes she doesn’t have a choice because of her tourettes. She’s not afraid to be herself, around anyone, even if they make fun of her. She just laughs with them or ignores them.

I think the Ugly Duckling is kind of a way to tell you that you need to be yourself no matter what. It shows people that you need to be yourself no matter what you look like, or who you’re with. The duck from Ugly Duckling knew he was different but he didn’t really know how or why at first. Until he saw some that looked like him he realized that he didn’t belong with the group of ducks he was with. But to him even though he was different he still thought he should be himself, and look for that to really know who he is. He tried his hardest looking everywhere to figure out who he was, he didn’t try to be like his “brothers” just so he could fit in, or so that they’d like him. He knew he didn’t belong with them so he needed to look for other ducks that liked him for who he was and for what he looked like. It doesn’t matter what you look like or how you act, you still need to be yourself around everyone no matter what.

Works Cited
"Storybooks That Teach Life Lessons | Scholastic.com."Teaching Resources, Children's
Book Recommendations, and Student Activities | Scholastic.com. N.p., n.d. Web.

5 May 2011. <http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=3738>.
MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

So in this website it’s a list of stories that people think are life lessons in being yourself, and if you scroll down you’ll the Ugly Duckling that’s where I got it from.