Dear Taylor Swift,

Thank you for teaching my roommates and I how to “shake it off” as we sang along at the top of our lungs, making our friendship stronger.

Thank you for reminding me that he’s “just another picture to burn” when I drove in my car crying because I foolishly let what a boy thought of me determine what I thought of myself.

Thank you for letting me use my hairbrush as a microphone while I told the bathroom mirror “you belong with me,” because I didn’t have the courage to tell him in person. Maybe one day I will.

Thank you for standing behind me when I picked my outfit for the day, and reminding me that “sophistication isn’t what you wear.” Instead, you reminded me what’s more important—that I shouldn’t be “mean” to anyone, anywhere.

Thank you for having the words to describe how I felt after my first kiss. You were right when you said “you're feeling like flying,” how it was “enchanting” to meet him that first night, and how I still see “sparks fly” when he smiles, even if he doesn’t know.

Thank you for understanding me when I felt “happy, free, confused, and lonely all at the same time.” It was comforting to know I wasn’t alone when I had to make some tough decisions.

Thank you for your invisible hug when I found out the boy picked her instead of me. Just like you told me, “I’ve found out time heals almost anything.” Now instead of thinking I wasn’t pretty or smart or interesting enough for him, I realize I can “watch it begin again” with someone else.

Thank you for helping me live in the moment. Sometimes I forget how beautiful life can be, and now I try to live “in this moment, now capture it, remember it.”

Thank you for being my motivation while I did my homework because sometimes I was “trying to solve a puzzle, and realizing there was no right answer,” the way I was doing it over and over and over again. Instead, I took a break, took a breath, watched a music video, and tried it again.

But most importantly, Taylor, thank you for inspiring me. For helping me realize my self-worth after I felt kicked down. For helping me find my self-confidence after doubting myself because of what players, haters, heartbreakers, and fakers did to or said about me. Thank you, because your music was a common interest with strangers when I thought we couldn’t be more different; some of those strangers became my best friends. For the speech at your Chicago concert before you performed “Clean.” You were right when you told the crowd that we must love ourselves and never compare ourselves to others. I cried as I listened, and sincerely thought you were talking directly to me. Lastly, thank you for being my constant rock in middle school, high school, and now college. You were there before, are there now, and will be there in my future. Honey, "you never go out of style."