I know it’s cliché, but not caring what others think really changes your perspective on life.
When I was growing up, my looks were one of the only things I cared about. I was on the heavier side, short, I wore thick glasses, and my two front teeth were social distancing. For a shy young girl, this was difficult.
Seeing other girls around my age who were skinny, tall, and had long, luscious hair had it all in my eyes. I always held a grudge towards them; I was so jealous that I didn’t have any of those features.
As I grew older, I grew into my body. I grew taller, slimmed out (out of my baby fat, I mean), and got Invisalign to finally straighten out my giant tooth gap. I started to gain a new confidence in myself that I didn’t know was possible.
Not only was my view of my body changed, but I also started to show my real personality. Finding confidence in myself gave me the opportunity to finally show my true colors. I grew out of my quiet, shy self I used to be into the loud and positive person I am today.
Once I gained this self-assuring attitude, I stopped caring about what others thought of me. I started to put myself in uncomfortable positions where I would have to speak for myself and meet new people. It was terrifying initially.
At first, coming to college and having to find brand new friends after being with the same friend group for all of high school had my timbers shivering. I was terrified, but I knew that once I met a small handful of people, they would lead me to the people they knew, and so on from there.
Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened. I can now proudly say I have people all over campus that I can call my friends. Learning how to put myself out there was probably the toughest thing to learn when coming to college; I am so proud of myself for doing so.
My negative view of my looks and personality has completely diminished ever since learning not to care about what others think of me.
It’s safe to say I still get jealous from time to time, seeing these other women who are naturally beautiful on the inside and out, but not comparing myself to them is key. Going my own way and being my true self is all I need. I don’t care what others think of me anymore, as long as I am happy with myself.