"Hey Sarah, your friend is really cute."

"Hey Sarah, is your friend single? Tell her to hit me up?"

"Your friend is so pretty!"

"Ooh, who's that girl in your picture?"

Growing up, I always had really pretty friends and those were the types of things I was used to hearing. It's annoying to be that friend. I felt like a tree in a field of daisies. In the beginning it was fun helping others get together and being the girl who was a middleman but then it got old real quick.

I never felt confident, beautiful or worth it. I felt like a shadow behind my friends, awkwardly trailing behind them as they shined. I had braces for many years, way more than the average kid, little pimples covering my face and unruly hair I didn't know how to take care of. My fashion sense was a tad off, I didn't quite get the whole "matching your clothes" concept. So around sixth grade I said enough was enough I'll start wearing makeup, then maybe boys will like me and people will call me pretty. Yeah that didn't work out too well. I stabbed myself in the eye countless time trying to apply the black liner, I ended up looking like a sad raccoon. I tried to dress in cool kid brands like Aeropostale, but I still looked the same and still felt crappy about myself. On top of my exterior looks, on the inside I wasn't confident. I was nervous of being judged every where I went. I cared a whole lot what people thought me.

Now fast forward to high school. This is when I really got self-conscious. I had no Kim K. body, Kylie Jenner lips or Vanessa Hudgens style. Social media and the expectations they set forth made me feel so uncomfortable in my own skin because I was nothing like those gorgeous models. I felt so average and ewe compared to all the beautiful people around me. I was no longer a tree in a field of daisies, more like a grape-flavored Jolly Rancher in a bag of all red Skittles.

But let me stop myself here. It took me awhile to see I am worth it, I am beautiful in my own ways, and I don't need anyone's validation. It took me a lot of YouTube videos, encouraging friends, and empowering social media posts to finally see I will never be perfect, perfect is impossible but I'll always be me. There is nothing wrong with caking my face with make up or wearing tight clothing at the end of the day it all comes down to what makes you feel good about you. Once I stopped living my life in hopes of pleasing others, things started looking up. Instead of focusing on all the assets I don't have I started looking at the ones I did and embracing them. Social media sets the bar pretty high, but at the same time who cares? I no longer want to look like anyone else because I'm me and that'll never change. Sorry society if I don't fit your standards of beautiful, but then again I'm not sorry for anything at all.

So ladies if you want to rock a dark lip and a smoky eye go for it. If you want to wear that little black dress and a pair of heels no one is stopping you but yourself. If you want you to rock that sweatpants no makeup I'm just chilling look than you do you boo. And if someone has a problem with that tell them boy, bye.