This article is for the people who never had it. This is for the people who grew up getting picked last for kickball. This is for all the people who grew up believing they weren't enough. For all the kids who are going to grow up not wearing designer clothes and shoes that are designed to make us value those above our own souls, know that you are blessed. You are blessed because you will grow up to learn that who you are under those clothes matters more than a name on a tag.

I see so many of my friends posting pictures on Instagram with their new Jordans or a bag from Victoria's Secret full of new clothes, only to find out later that they spent their entire paycheck on that one bag or that one pair of shoes. You don't need those clothes or those shoes to be a good person or a "cool person". What's "cool" is to sit next to the kid who no one else wants to sit next to. To offer a hand to that child who at the tender age of seven, is already drowning in an ocean of societal pressure. Being a seven year old in 2017 holds the same social pressures of a 14-year-old. We read in my Childhood Development class that between the age of 7-12, the opinions of peers begin to matter more than the opinions of parents. When I was young, I don't think I wanted anything more in my life that I wanted to be liked by my peers, and that's something I rarely got, and it crushed me.

This is for the people who were forgotten about. This is for everyone who we avoid talking about. This is for the people who weren't wrapped in designer silk, and their peers made them unravel. This is for the kids who spent their nights wrapped in their bed sheets trying to cope with their day. For the people who have anxiety and depression pulling them back and forth like two drunk parents fighting over their child in a nasty divorce. Words fly like bullets in their head until they numb themselves enough to fall asleep. This is for the Hannah Bakers of the world, who were too far gone to bring back. Who opened up their arms and let the roots of their family tree spill on their bathroom floor, growing a new tree watered by tears of the ones left behind. This is for the ones who light up the night sky in the stars because their lights were too dimmed in this world.

This is for the girls who have been robbed. Who had a man come with a Joker's smile and steal something that they had no right to take. For the young women who were tormented over the phone by their fellow women, who call them a slut so much it becomes a nickname. For those who were told they were loved for temporary satisfaction, and then tossed away, having their minds scrambled, like eggs in the morning. For all those who go days without eating because they've been told that who they are is not good enough.

No matter who you are, where you are, this article is for you. If you're alone, with friends, or with the love of your life, this article is for you. Know that you ARE enough, you ARE loved, you ARE NOT what they say you are. YOU ARE YOU, and you are more of a masterpiece than The Mona Lisa.

Stay true to you my guys, gals, and non-binary pals.