My childhood was not the easiest considering I was taller than my kindergarten teacher at the age of only five. This was my earliest memory of being insecure about myself and my image. Even years before this realization I knew that I was tall for a child because I was taller than my friends, I would regularly get positive height remarks from family friends, and of course, receive height measurements at the doctor’s office. But I had only seen this as normal or maybe even back then “special”. Once I realized that it was not an ordinary thing to be such an unordinary tall girl, my insecurities only grew more and more day by day. It saddens me to say that from the start of elementary school through the end of middle school I was constantly bullied for being so different and alien-like. I only wished to be more like everyone else. During this time, I was the tallest child at school (even taller than every boy) and I really stuck out from everyone else.

Like most kids, middle school for me was the roughest time especially since I was already six feet tall when I was thirteen. I am thankful that I had a very supportive family that would constantly, maybe even daily, reassure me that my height was a gift and that it’s beautiful to be different. They are the reason why I eventually decided not to listen to what other people had to say. To this day, I wish that I had listened to their reassurance more. I was not kind to myself as a child as my insecurities controlled me most days. Once I finished middle school I decided that I wanted to change. I did not want to be so negative toward myself anymore and I was tired of constantly being bullied. High school was going to be a fresh start for me and I chose to listen to more positive feedback regarding my height. This is when I learned that tall girls can actually be seen as beautiful. I decided that instead of being swallowed by my differences, I was going to completely turn my perspective of myself around my embrace my biggest insecurity. This is when I learned that modeling was what I was meant to do.

Being able to embrace what was once hated really gave me an entirely new perspective of myself and my confidence only grew. I have grown to learn that being different is a good thing. Getting into the modeling industry really helped me grow because being different and unique is seen as beautiful. I am thankful for my own unique differences because I would not be able to have the life that I have today or be the person that I now love so much. Embrace your insecurities and allow your differences to shine.