"Cool" isn't doing what your friends are doing. "Cool" is being confident in where you stand. Never apologize for liking what you like. In the immortal words of Taylor Swift, "Haters gonna hate, hate, hate." So you do you, dude.
I realized I didn't just improve my skills as a gymnast. After today, I grew as a person. Because on days like these, if you can push yourself one step further, that's when you get immeasurably stronger.
For quiet students, another school year calls for the oh-so-familiar report card comments on participation and the series of unfortunate classroom events they've come to know all too well.
My mother has handled me screaming and crying in diapers, screaming and crying as a crazy kid, screaming and crying as a moody teenager, screaming and crying through cancer. She has stuck with me through it all.
Let's just respect all people for just being who they are and for living or having lived. Let's just respect people and lead happier, more fulfilled lives that aren't marred by the exhausting practice of judging everyone we see.
If I can leave you with a challenge, it would be to stop. And think. Think "Am I paying attention to things that really matter?" Doesn't have to be always. But, every once in a while, are you stopping to smell the proverbial roses and do, support, or create things that really matter?
People don't think rich, famous, funny people can suffer from depression. But they can. I know from experience that sometimes the ones who seem like they have the most going for them can be holding on by the slimmest threads.
So are there any words of wisdom or comfort that I can offer to my fellow members of the class of 2015? I can only share with you the advice that I give to myself and do my best to follow.
To the teens reading this who typically categorize vegetables as "gross," "uneatable" and "Ew, a healthy food?" I get it. Let's be honest here: veggies have a pretty terrible rep.
I hope this new song inspires you to start or continue whatever it is and make a change in this world, one dance step at a time. Don't bother with the haters. They're missing out on the fun.
For every flaw I struggled to find while I watched it with wide, wonder-filled eyes, each flaw was clearly justified. The only thing that bothers me is that if there is a sequel it will take at least 12 years before I get to see it.
As a black girl I'm constantly worried that my male cousins and friends will have to deal with gang violence. Now I'm worried they'll have to deal with police brutality too.
Little did my disability know, that when I jumped out of the airplane, I left it behind. With every passing second that I was in free fall, I felt every layer of fear, resentment and shame I've experienced during my life, peeling right off of me.
No matter what your stance on this particular campaign is, it boils down to a lot of money going towards doctors, nurses and scientists trying to improve the quality of life for the ill, and if we can't agree on that, what do we have left?
This past Sunday, August 10, I got to spend the day with some pretty amazing people -- teens and adults alike -- talking about overalls, fangirling and The Teenage Experience.
It is time for us to turn the bullying conversation around. We have seen that targeting bullies does not work, so we need to find a new approach.