Summer is a time to have fun and be stress free; however, girls tend to create stress for themselves with the idea that they need to look a certain way during this season. The so-called "bikini body" has become a desired look that girls strive for at the end of the school year. Taking pictures on the beach in colorful bathing suits, posing in dance move with the sunset in the background, focusing on a tan rather than having fun -- all of these things have become the main events for a time that used to be about having fun with friends. Trying to make your body ready for pictures should not be your main focus.

I used to be focused on how my body looked for a long time and it caused me a lot of stress. Over the years, though, I have lost weight and become more comfortable with how I look. Going to college helped me figure who I was and helped me gain the self confidence I needed to finally be secure in my own body. I understand that I will never be the skinny girl the media has promoted as the ideal body type, and I have become OK with that. I do not want to be unhealthy to try and gain that figure. It does more harm than good.

Everyone has a different body type: some girls have broad shoulders, others have thick frames, some have curves, others do not; girls have longer legs, others have short ones. You cannot change what body you are born with just because you want to fit a stereotype or impress a guy. This idea of having a stick thin body for summer to look perfect in a bikini can make a lot of girls upset and unwilling to go to a pool, a place that used to be an icon for summer vacation.

I work as a lifeguard at a neighborhood pool, and from my experience, I used to be very uncomfortable in a bathing suit. Now I was never one to pick a bikini as my choice of swimwear, but today I would be okay with choosing a cute one at a store. But I wear a one-piece lifeguarding suit when I work. It is not because I am uncomfortable in it or that my body is not skinny enough, it is because that is not what I myself want to wear. I feel safer jumping in to save someone in my one-piece. It is bright red with "guard" written across it. My suit can be easily spotted as a lifeguard suit from across the pool. It makes parents feel safe that the girl in the red suit is making sure their kids are safe.

But if I go to the pool to play, I might just choose to wear a bikini because I feel good in it. It makes me proud of who I am because I like how I look. It might not be the body type society believes should be wearing a bikini, but it is my body type. I want to wear that bathing suit, and I am going to feel fabulous; the color compliments my tan shoulders, my surgery scar is covered up, my pale stomach might actually get tan this summer (or burned, but that is okay too) and my confidence is soaring. That is all that should matter when a girl wears a bathing suit during the summer.

So I do not have a bikini body, but I am still going to wear one and look great.