I once believed that the past defined everyone forever and that it was OK to judge based upon it. I was wrong. I had thought that people would never change how they acted and thought, but that was in the past. As I have grown up, I have realized that looking at what other people have done in the past should not be considered a bad thing. Instead, I started to pay attention to how far they had come since then- and it was beautiful. Why look at others' pasts now? I could not change anything if I tried and I wouldn't want to. The past made them who they are today- completely unique. The past is the past, and that is that.

If I could change how I had looked and thought when I was younger, I would. I had always tried to fit in with friend groups that had never really accepted me for who I was. I hid my humor and care-free self from most of the world because I felt as though the people that I was surrounding myself with at the time would dislike me if I showed them how I truly acted. I believed that I had to act a certain way in public and that I had to dress and look a certain way based upon my gender to be accepted by others. I had thought that the correct priorities to have in my life were what guys thought of me, my 'friends', and how I looked. Little did I know that I was wrong and that there were better things that I could have thought about instead.

After I had completed high school, I realized that I could not dwell on what I prioritized in the past, but rather I could prioritize better things like my family, my close friends, and my future. When I was younger I had allowed society and those around me to determine how I acted and thought about myself. I have now learned that I don't have to act a certain way around people who actually like my presence and that how I look shouldn't be more important than my personality and intelligence to not only others but also to myself. My past has made me who I am today and has shown me the flaws in my previous thoughts and beliefs, while allowing me to prepare for the future.

Everything that I have done in my past has prepared me for the moment where I can choose how I want to live my life and what I wish to achieve. My old friends. My old style choices. My old thoughts. They have all brought me to this moment and unlike my past, the future is unwritten and I can decide what I wish for my ending to be because I am the one who controls my future and my happiness. I just wish I would have figured that out sooner.