The Hardship of a Favorite

A lot of people envy the family's "apple of the eye" and the class' "teacher's pet".

But what others do not see are the hardships a "favorite" undergoes.

How would I know?

I've been a "favorite". I'm the youngest in our family and of course, the usual notion is that the youngest is the favorite. I experienced being a teacher's pet in high school because of my academic standing. People might think I was "lucky", but I did not think so. Maybe a teacher liked me but a lot of my classmates did not. I was bullied in high school. My classmates would throw my things in the trash can, vandalize my notes, and even talk bad about me behind my back. Was it my choice to be a favorite? Of course not. Did the teacher who chose me as a favorite student intended for me to be bullied? Of course not.

Sadly, it happened. I didn't really care how much the teachers liked me, I'm more concerned how my classmates would think of me...and obviously they didn't like me because I was more favored by the teachers than them.

So how did I went through high school with those bullies?

I cried. I cried a lot...but not in front of my classmates. I actually almost gave up on going to school, or at least transfer to another classroom. But I did not. Why? Because my future was more important than the situation I had back then. If I gave up on my studies, I wouldn't be able to go to college. The only revenge I could do to those bullies was to not give in to what they want. I had the courage to write to our class adviser of what they did. Our whole class was threatened that we would not graduate because of that issue and of course my classmates all blamed me for it. I did not care what they would say, I just knew that I had to stand up for what is right.

To make the long story short, we all still graduated. As a class, we had an open forum to settle everything and to open up everything to each other. I shared my bitterness toward them and they shared their bitterness toward me. We forgave each other and moved on.

It was by God's grace that we are where we are right now. It's by God's grace as well that the bitterness in my heart was taken away through forgiveness. It was not easy, but I'm continuing to move on.

One thing I learned from that experience is that it helped me understand why God did not approve of favoritism. God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:11).

If you are a parent, a teacher or a leader, please DO NOT SHOW favoritism. You may have favor over someone but don't show it. I know it is hard to do for we are mere human beings, but we can always pray to God to help us to show equality with others.