The past is a funny thing. No matter how much we try to run from it, we are somehow never able to truly escape it. As much as my own past haunts me, it has shaped me into who I am now. There are so many things that I wish that I could change, but I can't and that's OK — because if it weren't for what happened to me then I wouldn't be who I am now.

I have been through bullying and self-esteem issues galore, and it was horrible when I was going through it all, but looking back now, I can find some lesson that has taught me something about myself that I probably wouldn't have learned if not for those experiences.

I learned that not everyone is going to like me, and that's OK. I don't need people's approval if I am happy with who I am and where my life is going. I lost a lot of friends along the way and was shown time and time again that I cannot always rely on other people. However, if it weren't for those people I probably would not have learned to trust myself and be OK with being alone.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that it's completely OK to eat lunch alone in the dining hall or that I don't always need to be surrounded by people in order to feel safe. I learned to take everything with a grain of salt. Not everything that is said to me is something that I should take super personally. I learned that not everyone is deserving of my trust, nor am I always deserving of theirs. I've been hurt by the people closest to me because I trusted them too much, and it ended up being a mistake to do so.

Also, in those situations, I understood that I'm not always deserving of other people's trust for similar reasons. Trust takes time to build, effort to keep, and can break very easily. It's easier to trust someone more the longer that you have known them because you know who they are better and can understand why they deserve your trust.

I've learned that I am more than how some people see me. I can achieve more that they think that I can and I am worth more than they say I am. I was told that I was less than for so long and one day I finally realized that I don't need other people to tell me I'm good enough to know that I am more than good enough. As long as I know who I am, that's all that matters. Thanks to the people of my past, I can see my future much better and I know who I am. I am what I make myself to be — not what other people make me.

I have made many decisions in the last 19 years that I have grown to regret and gone through many things that have broken me down. However, at the end of the day, I am so thankful for them and the lessons that I have learned as a result of them. I truly believe that I would not be the person that I am today if I had not made those choices or endured the experiences that I have.