I just want to start off by saying that the entries
I’ve received were overwhelming – in a GOOD way!

I appreciate every single entry and the honesty, time,
& focus that it took to send me your #beTRUEtoYOU story.

You are all amazing & I honestly can’t say that enough.

When it comes to the winner –
YOU ARE ALL WINNERS
in my book.

But unfortunately, I’m not Oprah & can’t hand out 1,000 of my favorite things.
One day I hope to be able to do that though.

Honestly, there are NO LOSERS
when you are being TRUE TO YOURSELF!

With that being said, this is the FIRST #beTRUEtoYOU challenge,
which means there WILL be more!

In the end, it wasn’t only just about winning a really cool hoodie,
it was also about finding YOU.

So I want to thank Under Armour for their awesome gift

[source]

& also thank all of you for being honest.
For those who didn’t enter-
thank you for taking the time to read this!

Everyone’s story was amazing &
I cannot wait to FEATURE YOU ALL at some point on the blog!

You deserve for people to see your story so you can INSPIRE others,
because I know you will!

So the winner of the hoodie is the wonderful Rachel.

Here is her story:

“Ever since I was little, I was seen as different.
I have something called adrenal insufficiency.
My adrenal glands don’t work the way they are supposed to
and my body makes too much of certain hormones.

This may seem like it’s not that big of a deal,
but with my situation my condition shows.

Because of my condition, I have excess hair on my arms.
It is darker, thicker, and longer than most people’s,
and as a young girl in today’s society that isn’t very normal.

As a little kid it never really bothered me.
It didn’t bother me until I moved in third grade.
At my new school, I was judged.
Kids would look at me funny and make fun of me.

This has gone on ever since.
Kids have called me names like Chewbaca, gorilla girl,
and I was even told that I wasn’t a person at all.

Everywhere I go there is always someone judging me.
Every year I never had the same friends.
Even my “friends” made fun of me.

I let kids pick on me all throughout elementary school and part of junior high.
I was shy. My mom was worried. I couldn’t keep living like this.

We came up with a solution.

When I was little I took dance classes, but after we moved I gave it up.
My mom thought that I should try it again so I did.

Dance was a way for me to express myself and just be me.

I began to crack out of my shell.
Dance, especially ballet,
made me feel beautiful.

Before then everyone had been telling me that I wasn’t,
but through ballet I realized that they were wrong and what they thought didn’t matter.

I came to the realization that the only person that I have to please in life is myself.

I didn’t need to care about pleasing others.

Before I started dancing again, I was so embarrassed of my arms, that I got the hair lasered off.

It was painful.

After dancing,
I realized that I had put myself through pain for nothing.

Beauty is on the inside.

I became a lot more confident in myself.

I became even more beautiful when I spent my whole summer
between my sophomore and junior year earning my EMT certification.

I now volunteer as a certified EMT at my local EMS station.

Now how is that beautiful?

I have always been caring and compassionate,
but now I was sharing that with others.

I plan on becoming a nurse and the experience really helps.

Knowing that I feel beautiful and worthy makes me happy.

I’m being true to me by not letting what other people say and think rule me
I am who I am and by going out and using my gifts of compassion and caring to help others.
I am me and that’s who I plan to be.
I’m not anyone else
and I plan on staying true to me.”

Thank you so much for being so honest Rachel.
I truly believe that everyone can learn from your story and apply it to their life!

We are all different but our
differences can help each other.

Thank you for making the first #beTRUEtoYOU challenge a total success!