From Our Readers: To the Girl I Was in the Past

How's it going? I hope you've stopped crying yourself to sleep. Walking in class looking like a panda isn't exactly adorable. What is it this time? The unending pressure or the quest in finding your self-worth?

You weren't exactly the perfect daughter. But before you get mad at me, hear me out first. I know how it feels to have your efforts crushed like a tin can right before your eyes. And I know you've been trying so hard to satisfy your parents' unreachable expectations. You can't be someone you're not. You can't make yourself as someone they want you to be. I can't even count your achievements using fingers in my hands and feet altogether yet it wasn't enough. In their eyes, all they'll ever see are the disappointments you've brought them. They wanted to have a perfect daughter, and you struggled to become one. But dear, you're just 15. Just a teenager in the middle of an expedition—an expedition of finding your own self.

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