Learning to love my inner and outer beauty wasn't an easy road. I still don't always love the reflection I see in the mirror, but I have learned that my outer appearance does not define me.

I graduated high school, and I did my internship at Dove in their public relations department because I thought I wanted to be in PR, which turns out I did not. It was right when they were coming out with the Campaign for Real Beauty, so I got an inside view on the whole thing.

It's easy to be critical of ourselves and other women around us. We stand in front of the mirror and only focus on the things we hate about our body and our appearance. But I encourage you to change that attitude the next time you are in front of the mirror.

We should celebrate how amazing our bodies are! We all have things that we like and dislike about our bodies, but we need to focus on what we love - maybe it's a great smile, strong legs or curly hair?

As young women, we all feel a pressure to look a certain way, and sometimes it is just too much to handle. But, there are good and bad ways to deal with this pressure. A terrible way to handle this pressure is to complain about all of our flaws and expect other girls to join in.

I decided to move out of the apartment I was sharing with my best friend before graduation and move back home. My parents had recently separated, and I wanted to move back home with my mom and my siblings.