It was summer of 2016. For me, it was a magical time because I was
preparing to enter secondary school. In this school, a lot is different,
like the fact that the students do not wear ribbons on their heads or
petticoats. I was happy but at the same time a little sad because my family
decided to move given the situation in my country. That is to say, several
schools in certain cities did not work because during these times Haiti was
suffering from political instability, increased violence, a very high level of
insecurity, and many of us are afraid to go outside or even go to school.
That's why we went to live in another city. Basically it means a new place,
new friends, a new school. It seemed a bit difficult because I have trouble
adapting to different places.

September 15, 2016 was the start of school. I was happy without forgetting
the fact that being new in a school it's not always easy, especially on the
first day. You have no friends, you don't know anything like what the classes
are like or the school rules. I thought my first day in this school would go
well, but it was bad and even one of the worst moments of my life. After
homeroom, all the students entered the class. I saw the students staring at me, I started to shake because I was stressed until I heard the teacher say
come sit here and I sat down, and then she asked me to introduce myself to the class. I got up and started saying, “Hello class my name is Official Selene.” Without even finishing my sentence the whole class started laughing, I didn't know why. I even asked myself, why did they find this funny? A girl replied, “What's your last name again?" and I said my last name. The whole class would make fun of me. They started laughing, but the teacher said,
“It's better to welcome her.”

During recess there was a trash can in the classroom with a name on it: FC
Official. One of the boys in class said instead of calling her Selene we better
call her Poubelle Official because that’s the name on the trash can. They
started calling me Official Poubelle. Almost the whole school knows me
under the name of Poubelle Official, which made me sad every time they
said that at school. I spent almost all the time crying because I'm a girl who
doesn't like to express herself and you know when others know your weak
point they take it to such a negative place. With everything happening, the
stress and bullying about my name contributed to a bad grade for my first
course exam. I had an average of 4; it’s the first time I have ever had a grade
like this. My parents were angry with me and I decided to tell them about
what was happening at school which was preventing me from concentrating.

On Monday morning they brought me to school. My parents spoke with the
principal and they told me if I want I can make a decision to transfer me to
another school because I want to live comfortably and happily in school.
Before leaving, the principal told me not to be sad or upset because of my
name. The principal said, “You have to accept it because it's your last name,
you can't do anything about it and it's a nice name too.” And yes, now I've
grown up, even if it's a little difficult. When someone asks me my name I always say Selene. I'm always afraid to say Official because I find it a little weird when a person laughs after having said my name. Anyway it's my name and I have to accept it.

© Selene . All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.