SZA Says Being Bullied as a Teenager is What Fuelled Her to Succeed in Life

SZA shows us how to turn our weaknesses into strengths and win almost everything in life. She recently opened up about getting bullied as a teenager, and how she felt that contributed to her success. SZA has made a name for herself in the music industry and claimed the hearts of millions of fans around the world. She says she owes a little bit of it to the bullies because they made her stronger, and now she doesn’t fear anyone at all.

“I was bullied because I wasn’t quiet and I was awkward at the same time,” she said. “I wasn’t this tiny sad victim, but I was more so attacked just because it was giving ‘what is wrong with you?’ energy. I always thought, ‘Oh my God.’ I’ll never have the approval of anyone in life, this must be my defining factor, this must be the bottom line.”

“I realized that all the things that made me feel so lame were actually what made me into who I am,” she added. “It’s like, I didn’t go to prom because I didn’t have any friends and I had no one to go to prom with…[and now] it’s so weird that my life turned into [having] a bodyguard while travelling to parties.”

SZA also added, “All these things, if I had such a fulfilling existence and experience in high school, I would’ve felt validated to the point where I didn’t need to do anymore. [So] I just had to do more, I had to be more because I was like, ‘This shitty experience can’t be the end of it because if it is, I am cooked.’

Later in the same interview, she gave some words of encouragement to anyone who is being subject to bullying. “Everyone who experiences bullying, that just sucks, but it’s going to lead you to something, it has to.”

“If you could hold on and just wait until high school is over because 10 years from now, I promise you, none of those people will matter.”

– Riya Sohini