I know how you feel because I struggle with this daily and have for a very long time.

There are many different ways to feel like you don't fit in. For me, I've been known as the overweight girl my whole life starting from a very young age. By the time I reached elementary school, I believed that's what everyone saw me as. I felt like because of my weight, I would be the outcast, the one who stood out of the crowd, and not for a good reason.

As elementary school progressed and my grade was split into different cliques, I felt like I didn't belong in a group. I was one of the basketball players, but at the same time, I didn't fit in with the popular ones because I wasn't pretty, despite what people told me. I was just someone who was good at basketball, which doesn't make much of a difference to appearance. It just gave me a way to feel like I fit in somewhere.

As elementary school became junior high, I felt more and more like I wasn't good enough. There were now 70 girls who were prettier than me, as opposed to the 25 in elementary school. People began dating. It felt like everyone but me was in a relationship, purely because I wasn't pretty enough.

Now, as a graduate of high school, I still deal with this. I look around at my friends and none of them are overweight, they're all skinnier than me, and they've all had boyfriends while I've never had one. It just made me feel like if I was skinnier, maybe some guy would take interest in me. In my head, I know that I'm good enough no matter what I look like or what the people around me look like, but it's hard to get the rest of me to believe it. It's something I'm going to struggle with for most of my life.

For some people, fitting in may have nothing to do with your figure, sometimes it has to do with your personality or what you wear.

School can be tough when you have cliques, especially the popular girls or the mean girls, the jocks, the band geeks, the floaters and everything in between. There can be pressure to act a certain way in order to fit in. Whether it be making fun of people or lying to someone, sometimes you feel like it's necessary to do this in order to survive in school or fit in with the cool kids. And if you don't do this, you risk having fewer friends.

I can tell you differently, though. Any time you do the right thing, you are good enough and will fit in with a group that fits you perfectly.

Another way you may feel like you aren't good enough is by the way you dress. Every place in life you go there will be trends that either fit your style or make you want to puke. Wear what makes you happy, no matter what other people think. If anyone says anything, then they're not good enough for you.

In life, do what you love and be who you want because you will find some place to fit in, some place where you are good enough. You are beautiful, smart and amazing, just the way you are.

Sincerely,

The Girl Who Feels Like She Doesn't Fit In