As children grow up, they have a lot to worry about. Bullies are just one of the challenges that kids face.
One girl, Marika Nagy, experienced her fair share of bullying as a child.
Marika was born in Manchester but now lives in Germany. She’s 20 now, but her story begins much earlier than that. It all started when Nagy was born. In the ultrasounds throughout her mother’s pregnancy, nothing abnormal was noticed.
However, once she came into this world, her parents and doctors quickly realized something. She was covered in spots.
A Unique Condition
Sixty percent of Marika’s skin was covered in these brown spots. At first, the doctors and her parents weren’t quite sure what they were.
Soon, she was diagnosed with a condition called congenital nevus. This is simply a type of birthmark, which is what all those spots were. She had to undergo seven skin removals and had a 50% chance of survival. This condition also increases her chances of skin cancer.
Very few people have this condition. One in 500,000 babies are born with it.
Growing Up
Over the years, her spots increased, spreading all over her body.
As she approached school age, the dark marks began spreading to her arms and legs. This meant that they were hard for her to hide.
When she began going to school, the bullying got very bad. Her classmates relentlessly bullied and hurled insults at her. Marika was often told that she looked like a cow. They said she looked like she was splattered with mud.
To make things worse, the students physically assaulted her too. She couldn’t escape from this terrible behavior.
Dealing with Bullies
She explained the bullying to LittleThings,
“I had a difficult time at school and didn’t have any friends. Girls cornered me in the corridor and called me ‘ugly’. Sometimes they’d push and kick me.”
Some of the bullies made social media accounts just to harass Marika further with some anonymity. This meant that she couldn’t escape the bullying when she got home from school.
A Realization
Finally, she found her confidence. She wanted to embrace her spots—no matter what anyone else thought of them. She realized how special her birthmarks made her. She also decided that it would be boring if everyone was the same.
She’s definitely right! Everyone is unique and that’s what makes life so interesting.
What sparked this new confidence in Nagy? Well, it all began when she started acting—and loved it!
She mentioned that acting gave her a chance to be someone else. She could be whoever she wanted to be.
“With time, this stopped being an act, and became who I really was. I spent most of my childhood hiding away. But I refuse to allow other people to stop me from achieving my ambitions.”
She was able to embrace her birthmarks and love herself the way that she is.
A Dream in the Making
Now, Marika is chasing her dreams. She’s acting and modeling. She loves it!
As she grows in her career, she hopes to encourage others to embrace their beauty and respect themselves. She cares a lot about inner beauty as well.
She said,
“I want to show girls that it is our differences that make us beautiful. That we don’t have to be ashamed of being unique, and bullies will not break us down.”
This is such an important message for girls to hear!
Having her as a role model is a great place to start. Learn more about her in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
