20. Write a list of 25 things that I appreciate about myself.

Because increasing my self esteem is something I want to do over the next three years while I'm in art school, I have decided that I need to give myself a pat on the back for a change. Without going into detail, I have a lot of baggage that I tend to hide from 99.9% of the world that I've been hiding since middle school and continue to hide from most people.  As a result...I could be happier with myself.

Well, no time like the present:

25 Things Sara Appreciates About Herself 

1. I am well adjusted despite the crap I've gone through in the past.

2. I am not overly mature, but I know when I need to act it.

3. I am brave enough to pursue my dreams here in Boston. :]

4. I am independent.

5. I can sit back and realize what I have in front of me and what I don't.

6. I love the little hazel strip in my left eye.

7. I am finally proud to be extremely pale.

8. I think if I worked at it I could really be talented. I draw, paint, belly dance, write and if I actually try I can sing okay.

9. I am starting to be able to recognize when I am in a bad situation...

10. ...and I am able to pull myself out of them.

11. I can admit when I am wrong.

12. I try to live my life the way I want to and not by what others think.

13. While I would love to find a soulmate, I don't need a boyfriend to be happy.

14. I know what I want.

15. I am determined in nearly anything that I do.

16. Compared to some people, I am actually a pretty rounded person. I have a good variety of interests, unlike people who are simply like "OMG SPORTZ". 

17. I am smart.  

18. I have awesome hair.

19. I am not swayed by the media or public perception of me. 

20. I am not as shy as I was when I was younger.

21. I can actually talk now! 

22. I can workaround the fact that I a) had a speech impediment that still affects me occasionally, b) have a learning disability that makes it hard for me to deal with numbers and c) already have a shy personality...I left school on honor roll, even with a class in accounting. :]

23. I am an organized person when I want to be. 

24. I always want to know more about the world around me.

25. That I got the bollocks to write up this list.