As a child, I never felt comfortable saying my name. Someone would ask and too quietly or insecurely I would introduce myself. Then I would ponder the same question, wondering why on earth I was given my name. Upon hearing my name, most thought it was unique, while I found it strange. Over the years frustration with my parents built up, and I hated them for making me feel out of place.
I halfheartedly accepted the explanation that my name was a combination of names from my deceased grandmother, Elizabeth Hickey Shaw, and great-grandmother, Hazel Bate Shaw, but it still made me feel my name was old-fashioned, and odd.
The oddity of "Bazel" left me no other choice but to daydream while sitting in class, wishing my name was something more normal, popular and common like those of my friends and classmates. I had hated it: they way it looked with a "z" in the middle, and the way it was written, but mostly the faces people made as they raised their eyebrows in confusion, thinking they had heard my pronunciation wrong. But they hadn't, and for all I knew, I was going to be living with the agony of this ancient name for the rest of my life.
As I grew up, I became more sociable. I looked up to my parents, recognizing they were the most easy-going, and gregarious human beings on the planet, and I wanted to be like them. With maturity I started to develop more of a nature for pursuing an optimistic view of life.
As I gained confidence, I yearned for conversation with not only my friends and family, who seemed to be the go-to people, but with adult figures too. I realized that my name intrigued others and was usually the first topic of conversation. With this discovery I never minded telling the story of my name.
Most think Elizabeth Hazel "Bazel" Shaw sounds like a joke, but each of the four parts to my full name have all their own importance. Bazel is my dear parents' invention. It embraces my mother's passion for tending to basil plants in her garden, and is also the combination of Elizabeth and Hazel. My parents never wanted to just settle for the ordinary: If they did so, I could have been what most Elizabeths go by -- Beth, Liz, Betsy -- but I am unique and energetic, different from my classmates. I am the only Bazel.
Now a junior in high school (and a headstrong young girl with no fear of tackling any obstacle that steps in my way), I am more confident and comfortable in my own skin. I typically spring with delight to proudly introduce myself. Now I find that meeting new people is exciting and I love to spread my contagious smile from ear to ear, letting "Bazel" roll off my tongue when I introduce myself.
Bazel Shaw is a junior at Elk Rapids High School.
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