I take every opportunity to advertise my brand "brains before beauty," but rarely ever do I get to elaborate on why I've adapted this lifestyle.
Since I was a child I have been complimented on my physical appearance. I've always been described as "adorable" or "a cutie." I remember overhearing people tell my parents "you're going to be in trouble with a daughter so pretty."Because I spent most of my life as a tomboy, I never knew what the big deal was. To me, I looked so much like my dad I may as well been a little boy. However, others made it a priority to stare at, point at, and talk about my features. As I developed I went from being cute to "gorgeous," "sexy," "exotic." They envied my long, black, silky hair. They were afraid of my seductive, cat-like eyes. They loved my full lips that sometimes morphed into a joyous smile. They lusted over my long legs, thick thighs, and full breasts.
I, on the other hand, could careless. When I look in the mirror all I see is a big ass head, feigning for knowledge.
I appreciate the compliments. I am satisfied with my appearance. I am grateful for the skin I am in. But it is not to I that you owe the credit. With the help of God, my parents produced this beauty you see. I didn't do any work. I didn't put in any effort. 360 days out of the year I literally wake up like this. However, I did put in an a painstaking amount of work to continuously develop my brain. When people were telling me I would grow up to be a beautiful women, I was telling my mother I would grow up to be a professional student.
I spent most of my high school years fighting to be challenged. Every time I was kicked out of class I would be escorted out, begging the teacher to "just listen. I'm bored, that's all. Give me more work and I'll be good." I knew way to early that I was too smart. I therefore had to waste a lot of time trying to convince others that I was starving for knowledge, not attention. All I ever wanted was to learn. Due to my brain capacity I needed to learn more and more often than others to fully be satisfied. Hearing that from a child offended teachers.
The cycle repeated in college. It was so easy to maintain straight As and my position on the Dean's List, that I decided to apply myself outside of school as well. I started mentor programs, study sessions, joined clubs, worked out, and obtained a part-time job. I worked so diligently that I accidentally graduated early.
When I shared the news with my mother she was ecstatic. She asked what I would do next, I told her I would get another degree. School was the only thing that fulfilled me. She said "J.J., no one is going to keep paying for you to go to school." So when she received a letter from a private school explaining how they not only wanted to accept her daughter into their PhD program with only a BA, but they planned to fully fund her for five years, she said "you make your dreams come true fast, don't you."
For almost three years now I've been receiving straight As in graduate school, teaching college courses, tutoring middle schoolers, and spreading knowledge to anyone who will accept it. And all people have to say is, "you just keep getting prettier." All these years I've been indirectly begging people to look past my face and appreciate my brain. I've worked my butt off to market myself as an intelligent women, to compose 20 page papers, to be an invited speaker in multiple states, and to hold an intellectual conversation. So have one with me. Talk to me about something other than my looks, because that is the least I have to offer.
I place the value of my brain before my body because I myself have done the labor to construct it, therefore it is worth more.
My beautiful body only serves as a vehicle to transport my brain, as it is precious cargo.
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