Hello everyone,

My name is Tamya Anderson. I am a sophomore here at Charles Herbert Flowers, and I would like to address you all on how important it is to be unique. When I think of the word unique, I think of things that are different and things that have special details or characteristics about something that doesn’t make it common but interesting. Something unique about myself can be my attitude towards things, my goals, and my ethnicity and identity. It’s difficult being different. The way things work for someone may not work for you, and that’s okay. You should try to avoid thinking that you should change things about yourself for a sense of belonging. You should try to embrace your differences. Everyone has something that makes them stand out rather it’s their hair color, height, or size. If you’re comfortable with yourself, then that’s at least an amazing start and you should try surrounding yourself around people with positive attitudes. Confidence isn’t something that you have, it’s something that you create.

Some mental hacks I use on myself that helped me become more confident in myself:

1. Body Language: Your body language can be the first thing someone notices about you. I was taught to constantly give eye contact, keep my chin up, keep my hands visible and not in my pockets and to plant my feet into an open wide stance to make myself appear more confident. Now, even though it sounds like a lot after practicing, it becomes more natural.

2. Word Choices: Try to replace negative words like “um”, “can’t”, “won’t”, and “I think,” with positive words like “I can”, “I will”, “I know.” This step is, of course, optional, but it makes me sound more humble and confident about what I’m saying when I’m having conversations with people.

3. My last mental hack is acceptance. Once you reach a point where you can accept yourself, you can fully understand your qualities, character traits, habits, meaning both good and bad, and your WORTH.

If you need more tips/advice on how to feel comfortable within yourself, please contact me through my email.

Contact Information:

Email(s):

[email protected]

Stay safe everyone!