There's something special about seeing powerful female figures in modern media, and as a young girl who transferred schools in the middle of elementary school, it was difficult building a name for myself in a crowd that had already developed its friend groups. I was never threatened by the sudden change and the countless new faces around me, but I think there was this feeling in the back of my mind that came from insecurity about who I was, the tiny girl with the never-ending last name and hair all the way down to her legs.

The most important phase of a girl's life as she grows up is the era of late elementary school to early middle school, and in fifth grade, I think the societal views of women began impeding on our lives. At such a young age, being exposed to these expectations made me scared and worried about how I would be perceived by others. If I didn't look a certain way or if my hair wasn't styled a certain way, I would be shunned from society.

But in fifth grade, my math teacher showed us an episode of one of her favorite shows, "Boy Meets World."

At first, I thought it was another one of those shows about a boy going through life trials and learning basic lessons after each episode, but after a while, I noticed this girl, Topanga Lawrence, make more-frequent appearances.

She had strikingly-similar features to me that I found uncanny, like her long hair and her strange name. I found myself resonating with the way she was perceived as a know-it-all for doing well in her classes. I felt like I had someone I could turn to whenever I felt shut down by the way I stood out. Keep in mind that I hadn't yet pondered the debate about conformity and whether or not my standing out was necessarily a bad thing, so I wanted nothing more than to feel like I belonged.

But I'd see the girls in my class with their straight, blonde hair and their identical outfits, and I'd become increasingly confused at the way my hair curled as soon as it was dried. Topanga, though, had hair even curlier than mine, and the moment I saw her draw all over her face with lipstick she yanked out of nowhere, I knew she would be my first role model as I took on life.

She was like an older sister I could look up to, the one who taught me there's no fear in being different from the others.

I had longer hair than any kid I'd ever met in my life, and though having hair so long was traditional in India, it was foreign in America. It wasn't like I'd just moved to America and was therefore completely oblivious to the way people dressed. I just had made conscious decisions to wear unique clothing, and such choices had never plagued my thoughts until that year. Thankfully, Topanga once again came to the rescue with her individualist thinking, proving to the young girl who looked up to her that there was no stopping confidence.

Confidence is beauty, she taught me. I have to be eternally grateful for having this character to look up to because I'm not sure how conformed to society I would be today if she had not told me it was okay to be who I was.

I quickly became ecstatic whenever my teacher would announce she'd play another episode that day because it meant Topanga would once again show me that I was beautiful as myself. Nobody had told me otherwise, but she gave me all-the-more reason to believe in the person I was becoming.

To all the girls who need that urge in the right direction, understand that superficial details make no difference in the way you come off to the world. As long as you embrace your personality in the way Topanga Lawrence taught me to do so, you'll be unstoppable.