Back in middle school, I went through my growth spurt one summer and haven’t grown at all since. I was tall in middle school, then the summer before high school came, everyone hit puberty and I was short once again, and have been short ever since. There are pros and cons and sometimes I wish I was at least an inch or two taller.

I’m the girl that sits in the back of class, listens and takes notes from afar. However, this comes with the downside of always having to dodge the heads of people sitting in front of you. If I ever do get a seat with no one super tall in front of me or an empty seat, I keep my fingers crossed hoping that no one will sit there. Same goes for the movies and shows. If I go to a concert, I try to be nice and make it obvious to the people around me that I’m short and cannot see a thing around the people towering over me. Sometimes people are kind let me stand in front of them, other times, I’ve had to just suck it up and accept that I’m not going to be seeing anything. On the bright side, these situations--not being able to see the board or the performer--have helped me gain awesome listening skills.

Over the years I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with shopping. Whether it be for clothes or groceries, there are always issues. When it comes to clothes, it can be a nightmare. I’ve come to terms with the fact that no matter how cute I think long maxi dresses are, I cannot wear them without having to cut off around five inches from the bottom and hem them; who has time for that? And jeans? Even if according to the tag they are meant for “short” legs, they’re still too long. At least I’m now a pro at folding the bottom of my jeans, even my leggings and the sleeves of some long sleeve shirts. If I really can’t find anything, I’m at least thankful I’m small enough to shop in the kid's section if I need to. Most of the time their clothes is cheaper too, so that’s not all too bad! At the grocery store, my main goal is to be able to find all the things I need on the lower shelves. I’ve had too many awkward moments of me asking a taller gentlemen, or lady nearby if they can grab something for me off the top shelf. If I’m alone in the aisle, the shelves turn into a jungle gym for me to get what I need.

At 20-years-old, in my mind, I’m already pretty close to being a grown woman, so I think everyone else can tell I’m an adult, too. Big mistake. If I had a nickel for every time someone mistook me for a child and asked me where my mother was, I wouldn’t have to worry about my student loan debt. Often when I’m out walking with people, they don’t take into account that I can’t travel as fast and with as much distance as they do. This has forced me to work on my cardio extra hard and pick up my pace, so I guess the outcome has been good since I now have awesome health.

There are little pet peeves and annoyances here and there, such as being used as someone’s elbow rest, being asked how the weather is down here (it’s great by the way, thanks for asking), and your tall friends not seeing you when you walk past them because you’re not in their line of vision, but there are some great things to being short. Find them, embrace them and love your little legs!