I never thought that I would be the one to fall into society’s expectations, as I always preferred starting my own path.

At a young age, the last thing on my mind was obviously working out and wearing make-up. I recall promising my mother at 5-years-old, "I am never going to wear make-up, I like myself the way I am."

Unfortunately, as my life went on, I could no longer relate to my once-held belief. Through grade school, it was clear that I had begun going through puberty before anyone else. I grew to be 5-foot-4-inches by the time that I was in sixth grade, I am 19-years-old today and I am still that height.

During my young years, I was known as "the girl who everyone was scared of on the basketball court" due to my extreme height along with being 140 lbs by eighth grade. At the time, it felt "cool" being that girl that everyone would have to look up to talk to or being the girl other teams were scared of on the court. It was not until my summer going into my freshman year of high school that I began to crumble down. That summer, I spent hours on Facebook looking at all my new classmates. All of them appeared to be skinny and perfect. I then became more aware of my surroundings and viewed myself as "huge" and "ugly."

When beginning high school, I made the field hockey team.

I had met an amazing group of girls and the thoughts of not being perfect erased from my mind. However, along with being an athlete also comes eating...a lot. I was lucky to have two free periods in a row my first year. I quickly found myself eating the lunch my parents packed me one free period and buying a second lunch the second free period. On top of that, I had a huge snack before practice and proceeded to eat a large dinner after practice. I kept up with these unhealthy habits for a year, putting on 10 pounds.

It was not until my sophomore year that I began to realize what I was doing to myself.

I was so young and so harmful to my body. I would try on clothes that would not fit, I hated homecoming because I was not able to wear the dress that I wanted and worst of all, I began to hate myself. Every day, I would find myself crying in class and coming home to my mom lecturing me on being healthier to find myself crying more. Eventually, it reached the point of sitting in my counselor’s office everyday, trying to understand what I was going through.

When the words, "I think you need to consider seeing a therapist" came out, I panicked.

I never wanted to disappoint my parents, as there was no reason why I was feeling that way because I have grown up in such a loving household. I could not bear to think about them thinking it was their fault. I spent the next few months bottling up my feelings until my breaking point. I eventually began seeing a therapist, which at first I almost believed made me worse. I hated the thought of opening up to someone and convincing myself that I was "messed up."

As junior and senior years rolled around, I found my anxiety calming down. It felt good to feel good again, but I still was not happy with my body. There were days I would find myself starving myself and days I would binge and binge and binge. I could not win. I had almost convinced myself that I would be "fat and ugly forever." During that time, I pushed away some friends as well. It became one of my biggest regrets. I had no way of escaping my anger over it besides working out. My second semester of senior year, I found weight slowly falling back down. There was not a day that I did not spend time working out, blasting Missy Elliot’s "Lose Control" and sweating out every inch of anger, anxiety and sadness. I did not want to be the "sad girl" anymore; I wanted to be an inspiration.

My summer going into my freshmen year of college, I worked...I worked hard. I had come down from once being 150 lbs to 130 lbs. l lost in a healthy way, but it was not the pounds that were shed that changed me; it was my determination. For the first time in a long time, I felt proud. I began to recognize myself. It became my mission to continue being a better me.

As a 19-year-old, Instagram is a big part of our society.

Every day, I check the app countless times. It hurts to see girls using apps to make themselves look thinner, as I was once that way. Not only is your body beautiful the way it is, but you should never feel the need to change yourself for others to view you for what you might believe is "better."

Also, stop listening to what people have to say: wear what you want, put on as much make-up as you like; it is all about what makes you feel confident.

Part of the reason why I decided to join Odyssey was because I wanted to share my story and inspire others and allow them to realize that they are never alone. I can only hope each and every reader that may relate to my story may recognize that things truly do get better, and will hopefully get better as it did for me. I hope you realize that it will not ever be easy, as some days are still hard for me.

So, hold your head up high and flash your brightest smile because YOU can DO IT.