Your Uniqueness
IS NEVER A Weakness by Diane M. Ciarloni
photos of Haleigh by Sheldon Smith and photo of Haleigh with Christian Liberty School cheerleader courtesy of the Hurst Family
H
aleigh Ryan Hurst, a 17-year-old senior at Liberty Christian School in Denton, is familiar with challenges. She lives in a small town between Denton and Decatur. Actually, it’s a very small town. But its geographical limitations do nothing to restrict Haleigh’s dreams, which are big. Actually, they are VERY big. Haleigh is beautiful, talented, smart, crowned the winner of multiple beauty pageants, and out-going with a full circle of friends. Life sounds idyllic for her, but that wasn’t always the case. She was bullied and taunted in school about her teeth that “bucked” over her bottom lip. Braces pulled them back into perfect alignment, but that did nothing for her severe speech impediment. She could not master the pronunciation of the letter “r” and, on top of that, she suffered a lisp that made her speech sound something like the babble of a pre-schooler.
“I was different, and kids don’t know how to deal with different,” says Haleigh. “But I was really different! I was 5’10” in the sixth grade and wore a size 10 sneaker in the fourth grade. My hair was curly, and I was unbelievably clumsy. And don’t forget the speech impediment.” Haleigh hated her differences. She was called names, made fun of and, sometimes, things even became physical, such as the instances when she was shoved into lockers. She couldn’t help but wonder why God made her so different and allowed her to feel so worthless.
She was called names, made fun of and, sometimes, things even became physical...
Kids are often cruel. It’s not always pre-meditated, but that doesn’t change the pain and the humiliation. 24 | 35 WEST | OCTOBER 2020
The unpleasantness was overwhelming at times. But something inside Haleigh continued dreaming.
Haleigh’s parents bought 90 acres of land along with some horses. This would make most kids think they’d been transported to heaven, but Haleigh and her older brother....well....they just weren’t interested in the horse world. Instead, Haleigh, the tall, clumsy kid with the lisp, had turned her head toward beauty pageants. How? Why? www.35WestMagazine.com
