Back in elementary and middle school, being called weird affected me greatly.

I tried to change the way I acted, the way I thought and the way I dressed. I tried to change everything that made me me.

I did all of this just because I didn't want people to keep calling me weird. Weird was the worst thing you could be, after all.

I was weird because I was tall. I was weird because I liked "Harry Potter." I was weird because I liked to read. I was weird because I genuinely liked school. I was weird because I was smart. I was just weird.

Looking back on it now, I realize just how dumb I was to think that being "weird" was a bad thing.

I thought that if I kept being weird, people wouldn't like me and I wouldn't have any friends. To a 13-year-old girl, fitting in is the single most important part of her life.

And being weird meant no friends. No friends meant no life.

As I grew up, I began to realize that having friends didn't equate to having a life. Having friends just meant you had people to get tacos with.

By the time I was in high school, my personality was solely based on what I thought would get me the most friends, no matter what happened to me on the inside.

However, I began surrounding myself with people who were so much like my inside self. These people made me realize that being "weird" isn't something to be ashamed of. It is something to be revered.

After a few years of realizations and soul searching, I realized that being weird is what makes me unique. It's what makes me me.

I love Harry Potter. I love researching crime and serial killers. I love reading. I love history. I love movie soundtracks. I love being "weird."

But I'm not really weird. Everyone else is just ordinary...

Once I realized this, my life was immensely better. My weirdness became a badge of honor, and I wear that badge proudly today.

I no longer try to hide who I am, and if someone doesn't like that? Then they aren't worth it, and they aren't worth your friendship.

So be weird. It's so much more fun than being ordinary.