Confidence

Self-confidence is the kind of quality that many people lack due to the 7 billion people in the world. Knowing that there’s always someone better than you in something and there’s always someone more attractive looking than you, it’s depressing when you start to degrade yourself. This all goes back to idea of perfection. Everybody has flaws and everybody makes mistakes. That’s kinda cliché but it’s true. Everybody starts from somewhere. You see that body builder in the gym working out? He was once guns-free, if you know what I mean. That supermodel walking down the runway with the flat stomach? She once was toothless. I’m not trying to point out the flaws of people. My point is that your idea of perfection is really distorted and if you find someone perfect, you either 1) acknowledge their flaws and accept them as they are or 2) you do not acknowledge how much your perfect idol went through to get to where they are now. “The idea of perfection is really imperfect.”
What does perfection have to do with self-confidence? It’s simple. You lack in self confidence because you’re not satisfied with yourself whether it be in academics, physical appearance, or just you in general, that’s alright. You’re not stuck at a dead end. People tend to dwell mainly on the negative aspects of themselves rather than the positive. You can try to change all the things you don’t like about yourself but at the end of the day, does that really make you happy? You’re changing yourself little by little and with every new person you meet, they meet less and less of you. Rather, they meet the kind of person that you want them to meet. It’s okay to be yourself in fact it’s so good to be yourself. To be in your own skin, to have the kind of thoughts your mind freely wanders to, and to just be the person you truly are, it’s really great. Don’t be too pressured by society to be perfect. You are one of a kind, so preserve yourself. Don’t let originality die out.

Yei Ling Ma
(Sophomore)