Growing up, I always stayed pale — even after long days on the beach — because I was the girl spraying on sunscreen while others lathered up in tanning lotion.

Being pale has always had a negative connotation. Girls are so proud of their freshly baked dead skin cells after a week at the beach, but you never hear anyone bragging about how perfectly pale their skin is.

But why not?

I’ve never understood the appeal of tanning — especially in salons. In middle school, I remember girls circling up with their arms out to see who was darker. My cheer squad would even compare how many hours they spent in the tanning bed that week. Everyone made it seem like being pale was something to be embarrassed about, and that your beauty was defined by your tan lines.

Going to the tanning salon every week was something to brag about. But truth is, tanning made you “cool” the same way smoking made you “cool.” It was peer pressure. And even my 12-year-old self knew baking my skin was a terrible idea.

I couldn’t understand why people were proud of their cancer-causing habit.

I haven't always been proud of my fair skin. Society told me I shouldn’t be. There were times my skin tone gave me image issues. I was being made fun of for my “pale, pasty skin,” and laughed at for being “as white as a ghost.” I was constantly told I “needed some sun.” But I wasn’t giving into their peer pressure or their beauty standards. And I wasn’t going to kill my skin cells to fit in with the “cool kids.”

Throughout high school and college, I’ve learned to appreciate my fair skin color.

At age 22, I’m proud to say I’ve never touched a tanning bed for the same reasons I’ve never smoked a cigarette: I’ve heard the health risks over and over and over and the long-term consequences far outweigh the short-term “reward.” (Not to mention avoiding wrinkles as long as possible.)

People think cancer can’t happen to them, and they find out the hard way that they’re wrong.

My cousin shared her own story on Facebook recently. She had already had skin cancer removed from her back and chest, but the doctor found a third area on her face that needed to be taken care of quickly. She concluded her Facebook post with this message:

“I didn’t start taking care of my skin till my mid 20s, I wish I would have started sooner! I went to the tanning bed for a good 12 years or so several times a week and never really cared about sunscreen. I would hear the negative affect of what the tanning bed could do and not protecting yourself with sunscreen but I thought that would never happen to me, boy was I wrong! I haven’t been to the tanning bed since I was 28, right before I had my first cancer removed.
PLEASE take care of your skin!! If you go to the tanning bed , STOP!!! I beg you! Protect yourself with sunscreen, ladies, use a makeup with an SPF, every day, wear a hat when you are in the sun!”

As Spring and Summer breaks approach, I urge you to take care of your skin in the sun. Embrace your fair skin tone instead of baking away your youthful complexion. You’re beautiful the way you are, in the skin that you have! Never let society tell you any different.