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SBU | Career > Her20s

Give Yourself a Pat on the Back

Abigail Taber Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Something that is too often forgotten is the ability to feel pride in the things you accomplish. Especially as women, we are expected to blush and say thank you when someone congratulates us on something that we have achieved.

Rarely are we given a space where we can take a step back and say, “Yes, it is really cool that I accomplished this,” or “Damn, I’m badass”.

I think it is important that you give yourself space to feel full pride in what you have accomplished. Whether this is a major personal milestone you have reached or a professional one.

It is not selfish to acknowledge your greatness. It is a good thing to be able to look back at yourself in the mirror and remind yourself that you are capable of amazing things. To know that you are smart, worthy, and self-assured is a great skill to have in life. This skill can motivate you to do even greater things with your talent.

This self-assuredness that I was able to convince myself exists (my best advice is to “fake it till you make it”) is one of the main reasons I write this article.

To give myself some space to be proud of myself, I will share that I just passed a great personal and professional milestone. I am officially a published author! My first collection of poetry was published by Bottlecap Press and is out there for the world to see. Most of what I wrote is deeply personal, and while that may have been anxiety-inducing for me at first, I can rest assured knowing that I am proud of this work.

This process has been nerve-racking and eye-opening. While I don’t plan to pursue writing as a career, I am proud of myself for the work I have put forward and the fact that I can follow through on something that I know may not work out.

Giving myself space to look at my poetry and be able to say that it is good and worth the effort to share it is why it is published today.

So, Reader, take a moment. What have you accomplished that you are proud of?

Take a moment think of a time this week (yes, this week) that you have done something that you’re proud of. Take this pride and tell a friend, your parents, cousins—hell, shout it from the rooftops.

Do it because YOU deserve it.

Abigail Taber

SBU '27

Abigail Taber is a third-year writer for the St. Bonaventure chapter of Her Campus. She enjoys writing about culture, entertainment, and the happenings in her college life. Abigail is excited to be the editor for her chapter this year and to be a part of such a cool organization that centers around the work and interests of women.

Beyond Her Campus, Abigail is the Editor-In-Chief of the literary magazine on campus, The Laurel, the President of SBU College Democrats, the Vice President of the Book Club, a tutor at the Writing Lab, and a volunteer at SBU Food Pantry. Abigail is also a published author. Her collection of poetry "Kicking and Screaming" is available now at bottlecap.press/products/kickat. She is currently a junior at St. Bonaventure University, triple-majoring in English, Literary Publishing and Editing, and Women's Studies.

In her free time, Abigail, or Abbey to her friends, enjoys reading, listening to music, and thinking of her next tattoo. She is a music trivia master and a known enjoyer of any and all romance books. She hopes to work for a publishing house editing novels in the future. Growing up in a small suburb of Buffalo, New York, Abbey hopes to embody the city-of-good-neighbors attitude.