Being a girl is tough. Being a plus size girl is hell.

Growing up I've always been a fluffy kid. By fluffy I mean chunky. By chunky, I mean fat.

I never really dealt with bullying because at the end of the day it wasn't my size people noticed, it was my bubbly personality. That's the way it should be. As for those who do bully those struggling with their weight, shame on you.

Even though I was never bullied, it was still hard living in my own body. The words that absolutely made me cringe were always "you have such a pretty face" or "you're so pretty for a big girl." I never understood why I could not just be pretty. Why did my face have to be the only beautiful thing about my body? Why was I just a pretty big girl? It never seemed fair to me.

With words like that and everyday struggles, my confidence went down the drain. I found myself covering my body on the hottest of days and treating it horribly.

I know what you're thinking, "it's easy, just exercise and eat right and you'll be skinny." Well, thank you, Susie, but life isn't that easy. I am probably just as healthy as the girl three times smaller than me but my weight has just stuck to me like a magnet.

When I came to college my entire, mindset changed. Especially after joining my sorority that I love dearly. On my campus and in my sorority, I found girls just like me. The thing was though that these girls ranged in all shapes and sizes. I heard many stories of girls starving themselves, like I once did, just to meet "the ideal size" that is portrayed by the media. This, this made me realize that whether big or small as women, we will always struggle with our bodies.

Today, I stand with body confidence. I stand on not being ashamed of the body I am in. I wear what I want and show off curves I once hated. I may be a chunky/fluffy/plus size/fat person all my life, but I will take pride in it as long as I am healthy.

"At the end of the day, we are all trying to feel comfortable in any type of size — plus size or not."

-Hayley Hasselhoff