Not Just Syllables- by Finley Eidem

“You look terrifying.”


A phrase normally associated with a monster, or something that evokes great fear. Or, in my case, the first thing my best friend said to me when I got my braces off.


I remember that day vividly, as getting your braces off is basically a rite of passage for a thirteen year old girl. I wore my favorite shirt, put on my favorite shoes. I could barely contain my excitement, and when I smiled with my perfect teeth for the first time, I was overcome with the feeling that I was finally starting to look grown up. As I walked back into school, I smiled at the receptionist with a real smile, not just the fleeting traces of a smile with no teeth showing like I used to do so often. People were smiling back in the hallways, and I thought to myself, “nothing could ruin this day.”


When I walked up to my best friend, I was eagerly anticipating what she was going to say. So when she uttered those three little words, a dark rain cloud came rumbling in, torrential downpouring on my sunny day. People started to laugh. I started panicking. She continued. “I don’t even want to look at you.” I walked away, feeling small. I put a sweatshirt on over my favorite shirt.


A year later. I had grown up a lot in the past year, and finally had the confidence to distance myself from my so- called “best friend” and start fresh. I grew closer to someone who’d always been in my life, and she became the person who could make me laugh until I cried and who I could tell everything to with complete confidentiality.


I walked into school one morning, already having a bad day. I had a test I forgot about and my mother had yelled at me for not remembering. Just like the stereotypical awful day, I had woken up late, thrown on some old volleyball sweatshirt and shorts, my hair still slightly damp. I already couldn’t wait to go home.I walked up to my friend, ready to rant about my terrible morning. Before I could even utter a word, she said “you look really good today. I love your sweatshirt.” A simple compliment, 9 words, two sentences. She said it without thinking, but that’s why it meant so much. This small gesture meant the world to me, since I had grown so accustomed to hearing negative things about myself. Immediately, I was taken back to that day in seventh grade, and realized that I had great reason for being so hurt at my friend’s statement, because words do matter.





I believe in the power of words; how they can truly affect a person. Humanity takes words for granted, seeing them as just mindless syllables put together. However, I believe words are one of the most powerful mechanisms in the world. It breaks my heart when I realize that the only thing I remember from that important day was one mean comment. I have no recollection of anything else anybody said, and I feel awful that I was so focused on the one bad thing. My best friend’s positive comment reminded me of how great of magnitude words can possess, and how one statement beholds the power to change how a person is feeling completely. I believe in the tendency for humanity to take words to heart, since words should not be tossed around mindlessly. I believe in the power of words.