“Trying to be like other people was bringing me down.”
Here at MissionFit I would want a young person to know that it’s okay to push through and keep going no matter what. Never let anybody change the way you view yourself or make you feel like you have to be someone you’re not.
I remember trying to change the way I looked back in sixth grade. I was trying to be and look like all of the eighth graders at my school even though at the time it wasn’t the right thing to do. For example, I would always try to wear crop tops and dress in ways that didn’t really feel like me. Whenever I saw them I just wanted to be and look exactly like them.
I let their words get into my head and they would tell me that I had to be like them just to sit with them. Even though that hurt my feelings I still did it anyway because I wanted to prove to them that I could be pretty too.
I even started trying to do some of the bad things they were doing because I thought that would help me fit in.
School wasn’t a place where I felt like people liked me. I wasn’t very comfortable “being in my own skin,” so my first two years of middle school were really hard. I knew that when I went into eighth grade I wanted to do better. I wanted to show that I didn’t have to be like them. I also wanted to show the younger sixth graders the right way to carry yourself and be yourself.
I ended up talking to my mom, and she told me that she was starting to see me changing. That’s when I knew I had to start being myself for the better. Trying to be like other people was bringing me down.
I started thinking about who I really was and told myself, “Just be you.” I had to stop always worrying about what other people might think of me.
Now I know that you don’t have to change yourself just to fit in or make other people like you. You can be yourself, keep going, and become the person you want to be.
– Aniya, 2026 Strength Ambassador
