Discovery who you are is easily one of the most difficult things everyone goes through growing up. Questioning your sexuality makes things vastly more complicated for every individual who has ever experienced it. And while our society has grown to become the most accepting of the LGBT community than it has ever before, it doesn't make the process of self-discovery and actualization any less difficult.

My coming out story was never really much of a story. While my parents didn't jump up in joy, join PFLAG and shower me with rainbows, I was also never attacked or thrown out of the house for uttering the "g word" either; which I'm totally grateful for. In fact, the less attention I got for wanting to hit on girls, the better. I never really brought up the subject of my sexuality and therefore, they really didn't ask about it either. My family and I basically just ignored the pink elephant of my sexuality in the room for several years and I loosely gave them the highlights of my love life. And growing up in a small town full of more churches than cows meant that I wasn't going to get too much help from my peers either.

With that being said, I was left to discovering my sexuality basically alone. So where does a girl full of teenage angst and hormones go where she is searching for some self-actualization? Two words: the internet. Now, unless you plan on deleting your search history later, do not just type into Google or Tumblr "lesbians" because it will take you into some very shady places on the web. Around this same time began the rise of dating apps and the "Tinder revolution," so I figured why not give it whirl. If you're looking to just hook up with someone and then never see or speak to them again, then Tinder is your app. But I was looking for something a little more genuine. Then one day I stumbled upon the app "Her;" and LGBT social app specifically designed for women. Jackpot right?

With my feelings for dating apps tainted, I truly only expected Her to just be the lesbian version of Tinder. And while one of the key features is swiping your way through numerous potentially single LGBT women in your area, I quickly realized it was so much more than that. Her does the one thing that every other dating app seems to ignore, actually bringing people together. While most dating apps only focus on pairing couples, Her goes beyond that and brings together the larger LGBT community and unites the smaller local communities. Her does this through the use of their City Leads; a group of savvy ladies within a major city that coordinate and plan events to get users and others to get out from behind their and interact with each in real life. Going to an event and meeting someone in the flesh? Revolutionary. Leave it to women to restore the dating app scene.

So how did our sad girl benefit from Her? The focus on creating genuine connections between users helped me talk to people who have already been in my situation and reassured me that I am still a totally normal person. And while my sexuality doesn't define me, it is still a large part of who I am. Without Her, I would've never gotten the reassurances and experiences that I have today. And thanks to Her, the girl full of questions and confusion has now blossomed into the out and proud woman that I am today.