For years of my life, I’ve been writing about whatever I can. I hunch over my computer for hours a day and just write. I even self-exploited myself about writing fanfiction on Wattpad for a Tower article. Writing is my thing.

I’m also a talker, so naturally, there are a million ways I could write this column. I could do the whole “Thanks Dad!” thing, but I do that everyday already. I could shout out my best friends, but we’re already so close that I don’t think they need the additional validation from me. Naturally, I feel a need to thank other people like most humans do. But instead, I want to thank myself.

Now I know what you might be thinking–thanking myself is a total stuck-up, narcissistic move to boost my already-inflamed ego. But if there’s one thing my high school experience has been filled with, it’s the hardest battle of my life to stick up for myself. So, what I want to thank myself for is for figuring out how to be me. How to make my own decisions, be myself unapologetically and not let the intrusive thoughts and unnecessary opinions of others become those of my own.

So here is a thank you to my dad, the absolutely legendary Craig Fowler, who dances to The 1975 with me in the living room. Thank you to my best friends, who lighten up everyday with snarky comments in our group chat. Thank you to My Chemical Romance’s sophomore album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, which allowed 14-year-old me to feel heard for the first time in the most 2004 emo way possible.

And thank you to the real Sophia Elizabeth Fowler, the girl who bleached her hair two summers ago, the girl who wrote Chris Evans fanfiction in freshman year (that ended up wildly successful on Wattpad) and who ended up being one of the bravest, most confident people I know.