“Skinny, ginger, goofy bitch.”I was walking to school one morning when I heard this from a girl I’d never seen before. Clearly my confidence was only skin deep; underneath, I still felt like that “skinny, ginger, goofy bitch"My jaw fixed, my braces off, the next stage – moving away to university – should have been simple. Although heartbroken to leave my first love behind, I was excited to embark on an adult life, where no one knew me. Clearly, my newfound confidence was only skin deep; underneath, and away from my comfort zone, I still felt like that “skinny, ginger, goofy bitch”. The smile I had once concealed for fear of ridicule became what people were most interested in.

Source: The Guardian October 21, 2017 09:00 UTC