Tips on how to be true to yourself

I think that kids should be themselves. From my perspective, life would be easier that way. I learned that kids shouldn’t be afraid to be themselves. From fifth through sixth grade there was this girl I met. All that time she only liked the girl I was pretending to be. I was pretending to be a rude and mean girl, being mean to some other kids. I knew that she liked my fake personality better because when I acted like myself she wasn’t nice to me.

I wound up learning the lesson because I saw that I was hurting people’s feelings. I realized that if I was myself at the beginning, none of this would’ve happened.

Here are some tips on being yourself that I have learned from my experience.

• Practice being yourself with friends or cousins.
• Don’t get pulled into the crowd by extending the truth about yourself.
• Find friends who share your interests.
• Try new things to find new interests.
• Be honest with yourself and everyone else about yourself.