During high school, it was no secret that I wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in my class. With bangs that stuck to my forehead, braces and glasses, the boys I happened to know were not lining up to go and take me out to dinner. For several years of my life I thought that my appearance was the problem. However, I was wrong.

Throughout that period of time, which I lovingly refer to as the "awkward years", I became very close friends with two guys that I had met in my town. One of them in particular was explaining to me that one of the traits he found the most attractive in a girl was her confidence. He stressed to me that before I found someone to love me, I had to love myself. It took me a couple of long months of him repeating this advice until his face turned blue before I realized it was true.

When you respect yourself, others will respect you. I realized that when I started thinking that I deserved someone good for me, guys that were not complete jerks started to talk to me. No, it wasn't for my math homework either. However, I still had some guys that were not the most genuine pursue me and some that continued to tease me about my hair or my glasses. The difference was that this time I recognized that the problem was not me and in fact was the others.

I decided to take a break from pursuing any type of serious relationship with someone for awhile. During this time I fell deeply in love with myself. Rather than count my flaws, I embraced them and became more confident with each day that passed by. Finally, during my freshman year going into my sophomore year of college I decided to start looking for a boyfriend and found - not boys - men who were actually interested in me and that had substance to them.

So where am I now? Well, my dear readers, I am in a happy, committed relationship and am completely happy with him and more importantly myself. I have gotten to a place where I am one hundred percent confident that I do in fact deserve happiness. So the next time someone asks you on a date, remember to listen to Justin Bieber's advice and love yourself first.