I have always been uncomfortable in bathing suits.

As a super fan of pizza, pasta and all complex carbohydrates, I have never been the skinniest girl in the room. I don't have a thigh gap, back dimples, or abs of any kind.

What I do have are hella curves, shapely hips and a killer ass, if I do say so myself. I'm also incredibly muscular; years of competitive dance and cheerleading have seen to that. Don't believe me? Let's arm wrestle.

It's taken years to raise my confidence, and even though I know those insecurities will never go away, I thought I was doing a pretty good job with being comfortable in my own skin. That is, until, somebody tried to take me down.

Buckle up, kiddies. It's story time.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been taking a lifeguard certification course. Despite my insecurities with bathing suits, I have always loved swimming, so I figured I might as well get paid for it.

We were doing this exercise in the pool where you had to clamp the victim's arms above their head, flip them over and swim them to safety. When I was the victim, my partner was having some trouble; she's a tiny thing, probably 90 pounds.

When she didn't grasp the concept in the first 45 seconds, our instructor shouted "What's the problem? Is Heather too thick for you? Do you need someone lighter or thinner?"

Thanks to the amazing acoustics in the room, the entire pool went silent and, as one, they all turned and looked at me.

I don't know if it was the fact that he got my name wrong or that he called me "thick", but I snapped. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "My name is Hannah and last I checked I was muscular, not masculine".

He got really quiet after that. After class, I pulled him aside and explained that what he had done wasn't cool and that he owed me an apology. I know that the instructor was frustrated and that the comment just came out in the heat of the moment, but it still stung. I think that was what bothered me the most- that despite years of confidence building, a few carelessly chosen words had the power to knock me down again.

The lesson to take from this story is that confidence isn't a sure thing, and its universal. Everybody struggles with it, regardless of what you look like. But, don't let other people dictate who you are.

Nobody has that right.

I may never be the skinniest girl in the room, and because of that, you'll never take me down. I won't let you.