My Pursuit Of Perfection

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Perfection. While in reality unattainable, growing up I knew only one possible goal: perfection. I had the perfect life. I was the oldest child, privileged, and had every opportunity I could imagine. I also had the “perfect” friends and “perfect” family. From the outside looking in, my life was, well, “perfect”. Society places an unbearable weight on top of girls to be perfect, including attitude, weight, hair, makeup, clothes, grades, and relationships. Many girls, including myself, fight a constant battle of escaping this perfection mentality. Over time, I learned to put on my “perfect” face, and I built up walls that kept the real me safe inside. These walls hid the insecurities that have haunted me my entire life. They constantly knock …show more content…

I had an amazing time and made many new friends. I was inspired to apply, and become a Junior Counselor the next summer. I have never worked so hard on an application, but in my mind I knew what my goal was, and I was willing to work as hard as I could to achieve it. The work paid off, because in February I received a call and heard that I would be a Junior Counselor at RYLA 2015! My emotions soared. JC’s are supposed to be confident, strong leaders who are the best version of themselves at all times, yet there I was, terrified. Those imperfections and anxious thoughts raced back, and I didn’t believe in myself enough to know what I could do. But that changed starting July 25th, the first day of RYLA. In one short week, my confidence skyrocketed. The transition from childhood to adulthood within me was crystal clear. As a JC, I led a team of twelve teenagers, from all over Colorado. I grew close to each one of them, while learning about their stories and lives. I know that each one of them changed me in a way that I will never forget. Throughout the week we hiked, attempted all sorts of team building exercises, created cheers, and improved skits and dances. Through each moment I felt my leadership skills build, and I watched my team bond closer together. My favorite activity was called, “personal achievements”, where we all shared about adversities we had

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