Selina Amy, 23, has spoken of how she felt like an outsider growing up in a small town where most children were blonde and blue-eyed. As a mixed-heritage child, half-Vietnamese and half-Dutch, she was subjected to relentless bullying over her appearance, with classmates mocking the shape of her eyes and calling her names.
“It started when I was around eight years old,” she said. “I remember wishing I looked like everyone else because other kids would constantly mock the shape of my eyes or call me names. I dreaded going to school and just wanted to hide, and I didn’t feel beautiful.”
After years of struggling with her racial identity, Selina found confidence in adulthood while studying psychology and working in special education. But it was her later success as a model, amassing 121,000 followers online, that proved the ultimate revenge against those who taunted her. “When you’re that young, you don’t understand why you’re being singled out – it left a mark that I carried for many years,” she added.
Her healing journey included spending time in Vietnam to reconnect with her heritage. “For the first time in my life, I wasn’t the only one who looked like me. Reclaiming my heritage changed everything,” she said. Selina also shared how she stopped trying to “dilute” herself: “I stopped trying to be less Asian, I stopped trying to be smaller. That changed how I carried myself, how I worked, how I built my platforms.”
Now at peace with her past, Selina hopes her story inspires others. “I honestly hope my bullies are doing well,” she said. “I just hope they raise their children differently. No one should grow up feeling ashamed of where they come from. For a long time, I thought my difference was something I had to hide. Now it’s the heart of everything I’m building.”
