Overcoming Insecurities In High School

The teenage years have definitely been some of the toughest years. Through the course of only 3 years of being a teen, I have learned many lessons. Some of the challenges that I have encountered are: to overcome insecurities, judgement from others, and self doubt. High school has accentuated many feelings of where do I belong and who I am as a person. Even though high school has placed me in situations that an easy choice is not always available, I have begun a transformation to become a balanced individual. Even though I have gone through all these tough times, they have taught me how to become a better person. Teenage years scream insecurities. As I was growing up, it seemed no one in my elementary school liked me. Students would laugh and
Weight and body image consumed every waking minute. During Grade 8, a common practice with my little sister was to eat chocolate chip cookies and milk right before bed. Due to high calories and inability to burn the calories off, weight gain began to be noticeable. I was made fun of in my class because I wasn’t “skinny” and didn’t look like others. Although extra weight would seem to be too much to handle, really bad acne began to take over my life throughout grade 9. Most students around me seemed to not have it as bad as me. To hide from everyone, I pulled my hair off to the left side to cover-up my blemishes. Creating a facade seemed to be the only way to be as normal as I could be. As much as I tried, I didn’t feel accepted or meeting social norms. Over the summer after Grade 9, a transformation began. Exercising and a change in eating habits helped the extra weight gain to slip away. After I lost weight and got fit, people started saying I was too “skinny” and I was anorexic. I noticed that no matter what size I may be, people will always make fun of or gossip about me. Now I don’t care of the way I look because I know that my weight is perfect