I am a girl. My family tells me I’m beautiful, the world tells me I’m not. My family tells me that beauty comes from the inside, but the world tells me it comes from the outside. I scream and I cuss and I am not ladylike sometimes. But if that’s who I am, I’m not going to stand in my way. When I was little and I watched princess movies to no end and I believed that nothing and no one could ever hurt me as long as my parents were around to protect me, I was myself. My friends just accepted me and loved me, because we were taught that that’s how friends act. We don’t know how to be anything different, so we are ourselves. And there is beauty in that.

I am a girl. I am childlike sometimes. When I come home after I’ve had a bad day and my mom hugs me, I start to cry, because I miss believing that cookies and milk will fix everything. I miss the innocence that came with my first crush, I miss giggling with my friends on the playground and how we were all okay with liking the same boy. I miss being a kid. And there is beauty in that.

I am a girl. I am complicated. I am a perfectionist, but I also like to be messy. I want to be healthy, but I also love to eat junk food. I want to get a good night’s sleep, but I also want to stay up and watch TV with my dad. I want the boy I like to ask me out, but I am afraid to say yes. I have many facets, many faces, many sides, and yet, all of them are me. And there is beauty in that.

I am a girl. I am atypical. I like things like football and superheroes, but that doesn’t make me butch, that makes me me. I love my parents and my siblings, and our family is very close. I don’t like to wear dresses; I just haven’t found one that’s me. I love old music and I am a horrible dancer. Yes, I am different. And there is beauty in that.

I am a girl. I am brave. When I see a cockroach, I can’t help but squeal, but I am not afraid of it when I really think about it. I get nervous before tests, but when I sit down to take the test, I know that I am ready, and I am not scared. My sister teases me because I hate it when birds flock around me, but I could handle it if I had to. When my dad deployed overseas, I cried and cried, but I survived. I have many fears, but I could face them if I had to. There is no courage or bravery without fear. To be brave, you have to first be afraid. I am strong and courageous. And there is beauty in that.

I am not super-skinny; I look strong, and I look beautiful. I am not naïve; I just know the joy in seeing the world through the eyes of a child. I am not schizophrenic; I just have many layers. I am not scared of everything, but I am scared of some things; I face my fears when I have to, and that makes me brave.

I am a girl. When I crawl into bed at night, I know that tomorrow is another day, and that, with the sunrise, I will get another chance. Another chance to be me. There is beauty in being hopelessly, passionately, boundlessly myself. So I will not believe the world when it tells me who I should or should not be. I am a girl, and I will believe in myself.