Beyoncé 's 36th birthday, also known as BeyDay, was September 4th, and her fans expressed their love for her across social media. One Twitter user stated," I'm grateful to be alive during Beyoncé's era." I feel the same way about Beyoncé, not only because I am a fan of her music and a member of the BeyHive, but also because she is one of my biggest inspirations. She owns her businesses, runs her own record label, and does it with the utmost grace and beauty. People resonate with Beyoncé because she is someone that people look up to and aspire to be. Her birthday is a reminder of what one woman can do in 36 years and what an impact she has left on the music industry. In honor of her birthday, here are a few reasons why I love her:

1. HER RESILIENCE

In 1993, at the tender age of 12, Beyoncé performed on Star Search along with her girl group, Girl's Tyme. Unfortunately, the girls lost to Skeleton Crew, but as we have seen, this would not be the end of Beyonce's career. She even used the audio from Star Search announcing that Girls Tyme lost in her song, "Flawless". Her songs are all about female empowerment and independence, and they definitely made me feel proud to be a strong woman of color.

2. HER ICONIC SONGS

"Crazy in Love" and "Single Ladies" are arguably the most iconic songs of her career and of our generation. When Crazy in Love was released in 2003, it remained Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for eight weeks. Single Ladies also hit No. 1 on Billboard in 2008 and the music video sparked a dance revolution across the world with people uploading videos of themselves imitating her moves. I tried to do this dance a million times and still do whenever I hear it.

3. HER PERFORMANCES

Anytime I hear that Beyoncé is performing at an awards show, I always make sure to tune in because I know that she is going to perform like it is the last time she ever will.My favorite performance of hers is the "Lemonade" medley that she did at the VMAS. I loved the album and she performed all my favorite songs along with full out choreography. I had goosebumps and chills after watching that performance because I was in awe of her.

4. HER HUMILITY

BeyGood is Beyoncé 's campaign to encourage the haves to help the have nots and to help anyone and everyone. Whenever I think of BeyGood, I think of a video that she uploaded about this movement on her YouTube page. It demonstrates her interacting with fans who were lucky enough to meet her backstage and giving them encouraging words. It also evidences how the love she spreads through her movement has encouraged others to be loving and caring. She is a beautiful human inside and out and people recognize that after meeting her. She makes me want to be #BeyGood.

Beyoncé is more than my favorite artist; she is someone who inspires to be strong, loving, independent, and not to allow anyone to tell me otherwise.