Everyone has the right to be proud of themselves. No matter the size of the victory or failure. I am proud of myself and I hope you are all indeed proud of yourselves, too. I may only be 19-years-old, but I have been through a lot.

I am so proud of myself for achieving my successes and overcoming my failures. I am proud of myself for celebrating the good times and making it out of the bad ones.

When I was a toddler, my parents got divorced. I didn't know what was going on, and before I knew it, my mom and I were not living with my dad anymore. I would wait by the window for him to come and see me, but it never happened. My small heart was constantly broken by false promises and it caused me to worry as I got older. It was the start of my trust issues, and it was a hard time.

As I got older, I learned what to trust and what not to. I am so proud of myself for learning what's right and wrong in my own head and not overreacting.

When I was in elementary and middle school, I was always bullied. It was a horrific time, and I was always upset. Today, you see a lot of kids and teens that cannot handle the bullying and take their own lives. That situation is tragic, and I always feel horrible when I see those things on the news.

Bullying is a terrible thing, and I am proud of myself for getting through all of the hate and mean people. Nowadays, they have become partiers and nobodies while I am working on myself. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I got stuck in my own head after being made fun of for so long.

When I was in eighth grade, my grandmother passed away. She was my best friend, and her death really rocked my world. It felt like someone put a really dark lens over the sun. My days were filled with sadness, and I never wanted to do anything.

I am proud of myself for overcoming her death. I realized that she is out of pain, and I could not do anything to prevent the situation. Whenever I get upset, I do not want to constantly be upset, nor do I want to taint the good memories with sadness. I miss her each and every day, but I know she is in a better place.

In high school, I was involved in an abusive relationship. This one hits me the hardest because to this day, it still haunts me. When I tell my family about it, it's hard to believe that before I was even 18, I was in a violent relationship.

I was being choked, hit, spit on, and abused verbally as well. There are still some things to this day that I see in public and cringe at memories made with my ex. The worst part was the aftermath of the relationship, coping, opening up to people, and finding new love. Telling my family makes them cry, and I battle my thoughts every day.

I am incredibly proud of myself for making it out of that. For a while, I was sucked into a hole of what I thought was love, but I was wrong. It was toxic, and I was the bug that kept trying to touch the light even though it did nothing but harm me.

Sometimes, I remember what he did to me and I am amazed I got myself out. In a worst-case scenario, I could have died. I am proud of myself for listening to my family and breaking the definition of love I was familiar with. I love my current boyfriend with all of my heart, and he loves me the way I should be loved.

I hope to marry him one day and live a happy life, not one with bruises and screaming. I am proud of myself for being able to open up to him and trust everyone close to me again.

I am proud of myself for changing from a damaged girl to a strong woman.

I can't guarantee that the world won't throw more negative things my way, but the most I can do is get myself out of it, and be proud of myself for everything that I do.

Through all of your successes and failures, you learned something. Now, I want you all to take a second to congratulate yourselves because you have so much to be proud of.