G Day Stories: Ann

10 Mar G Day Stories: Ann

Ann Luu is the Traffic Specialist for CTV Morning Live at CTV Vancouver. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Ann!

I was a tomboy. I rough-housed, played with my friends and siblings and enjoyed life like any kid in the their preteens. I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. I had my very first “boyfriend.” Life was great.

The only difference between my life and my friends’ was that I grew up in an immigrant family so I never received “the talk” from my mother – instead, I learned it all from our Grade 5 teacher.

At the time, I thought it was a choice I got to make and I was adamant that I was not going to let this “period” affect my life and was certain that I wouldn’t get it at all!

Those thoughts didn’t last long as it was shortly after our classroom talk that I entered puberty – at the tender age of 11. I hated it.

I hated how it slowed me down and how I had to hide it as I felt that it made me different…even more so than I already was.

Every month I would try to wish it away with hopes that the last month’s experience was the last. I didn’t want to acknowledge adulthood, let alone embrace it! Instead, I wanted to just be a kid forever, despite what my body was doing. I remember a time when I refused to wear a pad, ruining a pair of pants to the horror of my mom. She tried to explain that it wasn’t something to be ashamed of and that this was just part of growing up.

I felt very uncomfortable during that time and didn’t admit to anyone what was going on.

It didn’t get better either. After my period, I got braces. After getting braces, I had to get glasses. It wasn’t until about grade 10, after the braces were off and my sister stopped perming my hair that I felt more comfortable and more willing to take on the future.

I was very lucky however, to grow up in a family with 5 girls. I have 3 older sisters and a younger sister (who I am sure is older than me) who were the coolest people in the world to me. I was very fortunate to have a group of amazing women in my life who I wanted to emulate and still do! They were and continue to be a support system that keeps me grounded and sane. My transition into adulthood wasn’t really acknowledged with any pomp and circumstance because my parents were very busy trying to raise 6 kids. Also, because, some would say that even after university, marriage and an amazing career, I still live life like a child, (often act like one too!) with each day to the fullest, trying to do it without doubts and regrets.

For more about Ann Luu, visit ctvnews.ca.