If I took a remote and rewinded to a little under a year ago, I was not confident. I had no direction on where I wanted to go in my life. I had little to no confidence in myself and being aware that I wasn't like the status quo of college kids, I didn't know what to do. It was a low point in my life and I knew I had to do something about it. Fast forward to now, and I feel I am better than I was a year ago. I have a long way to go, but I am proud of how far I've come. So how did I do it? I learned to be myself and know that there is nobody else other than myself. However, this is not an article about myself, it's a letter to people like you.

So a question that might come up is why is it so important to be yourself? Well, it helps you as an overall person. It helps show what you stand for, what you express and your actions. Being yourself always helps you meet others like you, and helps others gain respect from you.

Part of being yourself definitely helps you find the real friends that you definitely need in life. Without true friends, life would never be the same and I'd never have the support of them when I need it. Hiding in the shadows or the back corner of the room does not help you meet real and true friends, but expressing yourself definitely will.

In addition, being yourself can definitely make you feel happier, even on the toughest days. Hiding aspects of yourself can bring you down and show people a false persona of yourself. Everyone has their flaws and flaws definitely come along with being yourself 100%. Convincing people of someone that is not you does not help and you will be much happier if you don't hide behind aspects of yourself.

Most importantly, being yourself can help you find your own identity. By being yourself, you find your passions that you might have gone unnoticed otherwise. You can also begin to find morals and values that you can stand by, and most in which you won't mind standing for when in jeopardy. Lastly, you can also show off your political affiliations with no shame.

All of these little aspects also help you be comfortable in your own skin. And I know, many of the people reading this might think this is the same as being confident, but now I can rest assure that it's not.

Being comfortable in your own skin means being able to express yourself without any fear of what others may think. Your interests and passions shouldn't hold you back at all. It doesn't matter what your passionate about, it could be anything from Harry Styles to chocolate chip cookies and it definitely shouldn't be something you hide.

However, being comfortable in your own skin also means what you wear and how you act. This can be confusing, but if your hair is curly, wear it curly. If you love the Power Rangers, don't be afraid to talk about your favorite character with a new found friend, if you are nice, don't be afraid to show off your kindness-- just don't let people take advantage of you (trust me, I've been there).

Always remember it's okay to embrace yourself. People may talk but remember people have far bigger problems than how you sport your hair, what type of movies you watch, or what bumper stickers you have on your car. Always remember to embrace yourself and be yourself, because there is nobody better than you.