I recently got a new pair of glasses. The frame carries a sleek metal look all around the circular lenses with an intricate design on the front, making them stand out. As soon as I saw the frame, I knew it read me.

Growing up, my biggest interest was fashion. I would try to show up to school with a new outfit and rearrange the pieces in my closet to create an outfit which stood out. My friends and I would text and call each other early before school started, asking to borrow that red scarf, or the striped shirt you tried on once at their house. My clothes were always different than the other girls, as I always went for the statement pieces.

Looking back at the pictures from high school, I was amazed by the amount of self-confidence I had wearing such loud outfits. The outfits I wore back then were my outlet for creativity and expressed who I was as a person. Outgoing and extroverted with my personality and my clothes, and I was not afraid to take risks.

Since entering college, I feel my creativity and interest in clothes begin to slow down, and eventually stop. When you have morning classes and piles of homework, it is easy to say the leggings and over sized hoodies fit the situation better. My self-confidence also began to shrink and my personality became quieter and quieter.

So I stopped trying. I didn’t make an effort to look nice anymore, just enough to pass by. I felt struck by a grey cloud of self-doubt, dripping down with the rain of my tears thinking I was not good enough. My outlook on the fashion world changed and as my thoughts matured, so did my style in clothes. I drifted away from my statement pieces and choose the same route as everyone else. Until my news glasses got me out of this rut.

Since I work for Lenscrafters, I get discounted glasses and sunglasses. For my one year anniversary with working with the company, I was awarded a free pair of glasses. As I visited another Lenscrafters store, my eyes immediately went to a frame unlike any other. Their uniqueness is what drew me in, and despite the other frames I had chosen, these ones had Sarah written all over them.

I was afraid these glasses would be too much and I would be judged as the girl with weird glasses. I then realized, I am not dressing to impress anyone, I am merely being myself. These frames have slowly taught me how to accept my sense of style again. Instead of worrying about what other people might think of what I am wearing, I can come back with a newfound sense of acceptance in my style. If I am comfortable with a statement piece, I will wear it and wear it proudly.

They might be just glasses, but to me, they're an entryway to accepting myself for who I am back again.