A few days ago, my friend from high school made a statement that got me thinking a lot about who I am today and how I have changed for the better.

She said, "Oh my god! You have become so rude after going to college".

This got me thinking have I actually become rude or have I stopped taking shit from people and have actually started giving back to them and if I have become blunt is that not good?

Over the course of the past few months and especially after this statement I began thinking how life. has changed for me these past few months since I began college.

For a little bit of a back story: I was one of those people who would never let her emotions come out in public and if someone were to annoy me and anger me I would never give it back to them I would just swallow my anger and move along.

I was also one of those people who always had to be surrounded by people and could not do anything on her own.

Now that I look back to how I was, I truly wish someone had looked me in the eye, slapped me and told me that that isn't right.

There is a difference between considering peoples feelings and letting them take advantage of you!

Today while I still do like doing things with my friends I do not always need them around me. More importantly, I have learned that I do not always need a huge group of people around me. All I need is a few "true friends" who will always be there for me when I need them and now that I have that I am more secure than ever.

I also learned that I do not need peoples approval and that anything I do is not for peoples happiness but is actually for me and my peace of mind and if people are not happy with that then they do not deserve to be a part of my life.

I also learned that in order to have friends I do not need to please everyone. people deserve honesty and that is what I am going to give them from now on.

I realized how much I grew as a person and how this affected me personally.

People took notice of me and the change in me and began to act offended and affected by this change.

This got me thinking, how is it that when people change instead of asking them what caused them to change and what motivated them why is it that we just put them down and insult them and call them words?

Why can we not be happy for them and motivate them?

While these things came to mind, I realized it did not matter anymore since I loved myself and was at peace with myself.

At the end of the day, I realized I had begun loving my self and there's nothing better than self-care and self-love!