Transitioning into a teenager is an awkward and rough part of everyone’s life, and we all experience it. And to say that the transition is smooth would definitely be nowhere near the truth. With the multitude of new situations it seems you have to worry about, as well as overcome, your teenage years can seem like the lowest time of your life. In the graphic novel, “Smile”, by Raina Telgemeier, Raina’s own struggle with self-confidence during her teenage years taught me lessons during my own transition, about just how important it is to realize my own self-worth. The first lesson that the novel taught me was that I shouldn’t change myself for other people. During the beginning of Raina’s transition into a young adult, she had still worn her …show more content…
“I threw my passions into things I enjoyed, rather than feeling sorry for myself. I realized that I had been letting the way I looked on the outside affect how I felt on the inside. But the more I focused on my interests, the more it brought out things I liked about myself” (206). Raina had spent all of her time focused on all the things that she hated about herself, instead of the things that she loved. Consequently, she was more of a negative person during this period of her life, but as she progressed as a young adult, Raina recognized that focusing on her passions made her a happier person, and helped her accept herself. This was by far the most important lesson that I took out of this novel. I have a hard time with accepting myself and flaws, much like most people do. I spent too much time feeling sorry for myself, brushing off my accomplishments and passions and instead focusing on all of the things that I could not do or thought I did not do well enough. As a result, I was an extremely negative person. Reading about someone experiencing the same challenges and having a positive outcome arise out of their change of actions, encouraged me to do the same. Because of that push, I am now a more positive and passion-oriented