What It's Like to Suddenly Grow Big Boobs

At a certain stage in a girl's life, she will begin to hit puberty. This age can vary, and the speed at which these changes happen can also vary. I was 15 when this process fully kicked in.

I've always been that small, short girl whose body is generally quite petite. I wasn't really "flat-chested," but I was a lot closer to that than wearing properly padded bras. One day, this all began to change.

It wasn't something I had wished for, and I didn't think it would last very long either. I went from a cup size of AAA to 32D in about a year and a half, and since then, I have been slowly but surely growing to a DD. It wasn't so much of a shock for me because I had seen my older sister go through this a bit before she left for uni, but I didn't realise how much it would change the way people talked about me and looked at me.

As it generally always starts with girls, it began with rumours and whispering. I was asked about what supplement I was taking, what my secret was, but I was also stared at. My clothes were too tight on me, I was "trying to attract attention." Apart from the obvious downsides, there were plus sides also. As people matured, or at least got over the shock, I found myself feeling more loved at school. Girls who had never taken an interest in talking to me wanted to exchange numbers and meet up outside school, and the guys, well, they were immature as always, but they took a liking to me, but in the wrong ways.

I was overwhelmed by the way that just developing mammillary glands had suddenly increased my social status at school tenfold. Old friends in the years above me reconnected, and I always had a seat saved in class. As much as I was glad to benefit, it was also not that much of a blessing in disguise.

Apart from inside the school community, attitudes towards me changed drastically. At the age of 15, men and teenage boys would shout things at me from across the street. My mum is from Hong Kong, so I am part Hong Kongese, and I would on occasion have the name "Asa Akira" shouted at me, which I later found out belongs to a Japanese porn star (both the wrong country and race, but you do you, mate). I became scared to walk home alone, and I had ordered a new uniform out of my own pocket money which was baggier and less "revealing," much to my mum's confusion and worry.

I had never realised before then the unsettling feeling that I would be forced to feel when someone I don't know looks at my body in a way that makes my insides twist into knots, or even someone I do know, when I'm trying to have a civilised conversation.

Some girls may love the attention, but for me, it was very much unwanted. I began to dislike my body, and I would feel so uncomfortable in gym class that I would bail with a note from a doctor (I actually had a legitimate reason for this, but it wasn't always used when necessary).

Now, eight years later, I've learned to both hate and love my body as it is. It is a difficult process, which doesn't seem to have much of an end to it, but once you've learnt to take control, making unwavering eye contact with the people who stare, you will feel so much better in your own skin. I have a love-hate relationship with my body, but once you come to terms with it all, you can be sure that you'll realise how amazing and beautiful your body is too.