Mayim Bialik Was a Late Bloomer

Mayim Bialik has a new book coming out, titled Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular. People has an excerpt:

“I was very small for my age and I developed late, so I was teased a lot. I cried a lot and felt left out of many things my whole life, and I still feel that way as an adult sometimes. I developed late; I was really short, and my body didn’t get curves until I was about 16. I didn’t start my menstrual cycle until late in high school. I was not interested in dating, and as I shared before, I had my first kiss when I was acting in a TV show when I was 14. I didn’t have my first real boyfriend until I was 17, and I never ‘casually’ dated. I never hooked up with guys at camp or at school; I have only had long-term relationships, and I believe very strongly in having one committed partner at a time.

The truth is being a late bloomer turned out to be a good thing for me. The fact that I was left out of a lot of jokes and conversations because I couldn’t relate didn’t end up affecting me much in the long run. I know that being a late bloomer saved me from a lot of the drama and heartache that can come from having lots of relationships, but people who experienced those relationships learned a lot from them, and that’s fine too. 

I used to feel ashamed that I was such a late bloomer, but now I embrace it, and I get to experience a lot of beauty and joy and love in ways I never imagined I could when I was a shy, awkward girl.”