Make it Mine

I made an interesting decision last week, to finally bite the bullet and get my nose pierced. I'd been saying I wanted to get it done for a while but it wasn't until my friends spurred me into setting a date that I think I actually really thought I'd get it done. So I did it. I was scared and excited and nervous but I did it, and honestly, I'm so glad I did.

In America having an English accent opened every door and made you the person everyone wanted to know. I never been the person who struggled making friends or getting to know people or talking out in classes or public, so I think I've always given off an impression of confidence. In many ways my first two years of uni in London knocked my confidence; it was difficult being away from home, making a new group of friends and dealing with the workload. On top of all this as much as I love London it is not always the friendliest of cities. However, the year in America provided me with the self esteem boost it seems I most definitely needed.

Towards the end of the year though the niggling sense of self doubt began to creep back in. I was nervous about coming back to England and drifting off into the crowds of people in London again, unseen and unheard. As much as my friends tried to tell me otherwise a part of me was convinced that the thing that had made and kept me popular in America wasn't me but was my accent.

Since being back in London I have worked my hardest to squash these moments of self doubt and to hold on to the confidence I left America with. Getting my nose pierced is a part of this. I had originally thought I might get the piercing to try and help me stand out. But in the end I realised I can stand out on my own and instead it became something I decided to do for me. It was something that I think was in many ways quite out of character. I'm not usually a huge fan of change and this felt like a big change for me. But it's turned out to be a good one. It's something a bit different, I receive nothing but compliments about it and, most importantly, I love it. I feel like I finally have my English accent back, and it feels great.