Most of my life people have mistaken my age. When I was 12 I was 15, when I was 15 I was 16. Ironically when I actually reached the ages everyone wanted to betsow on me earlier in life, suddenly I was younger. When I was 16 I was 15, when I was 17, somehow I was still 15. My dad told me that this was because I have a body of a grown woman but I’m short with face and sometimes the mentality of a little girl. And this confuses people. Even now when I talk to people who don’t know me find it hard to believe that I’m a college freshman, they think I’m a high school freshman. And that’s fine.

Today I felt like a woman. It was nothing miraculous that I did or anything new. I believe that being grown- no, specifically a woman, means this; being able to respectfully carry ones self and take care of her responsibilities regardless of the circumstances. Of course this is my belief a bit condensed, but it’s the gist of things. This is how my day went, specifically my morning. I woke up at 8:40, on Fridays my MATH 151 is at 10:00. I tried to wake Eric but he said he wasn’t feeling well, stomach cramp, therefore wasn’t coming to class. Part of me wanted to stay with him but right after math I have English112 at 11:00 and I knew if I would have stayed I would have slept till noon. Why miss both classes? Besides, other than being sleepy I felt perfectly fine. I came to the conclusion a while ago that I won’t let all my parent’s college money go to waste.

I didn’t just get dressed and go to class. Not this morning. But I decided to curl my hair, put on some dress pants, a nice shirt and my black heels. And I walked to the bus stop with excellent posture, back straight and head up. I payed attention to my surroundings. And as I walked to the bus-stop, although it was cold and windy, I felt good about myself. I can’t quite say why but I can say that I felt respectable, sophisticated, and mature. To be grown, not just determined by a birth date but a level of maturity, by my definition, is beautiful.

So today I can say with full confidence, I felt beautiful.