Why we all need a Girl Gang

This weekend, I did something that I haven't done a lot in my life - bond with girls.

I spent most of my childhood being friends with boys, or at least a mix of boys and girls. There have been very few girls to me that I consider close friends, and I didn't realize until recently how the lack of a girl gang in my life was harming me.

I used to think that girls were too dramatic for me, too focused on little things and I'd rather be like the carefree boys. But as I transitioned from middle school to high school to college, the desire to have females to connect with increased. In middle school, having a mix of friends is easy and fun. There's not too much to differentiate between boys and girls - we all enjoy certain movies or classes or hobbies. In high school, I grew distant from my guy friends because as their "locker room" talk increased, and the more my "feminine insecurities" about my body and my beauty grew, the more I wished for more relatable people.

This weekend, I was giving away compliments left and right to my new girl friends - and I promise they were genuine. I truly felt so happy to be around girls who were bold and brave and beautiful, on the inside and out, and I realized in those moments how much the presence of positive girls could build me up.

Knowing that my insecurities and my emotions were valid, knowing that others do not see me the negative way I see me, knowing that I could talk about "feminine insecurities" without fear of being misunderstood - I was built up instead of forced to cave in.

And that is why we need a stronger presence of people empowering people in whatever they do. For me, I choose to be in STEM, and it inspires me when I see women who achieve things in STEM like creating startups or leading conferences or conducting research in their own labs. They build me up, just like my friends did this weekend, and that is why we should all find our own "girl gang."

It's not necessarily about female power (although I'm all for that too). I know that boys are capable of understanding and empowerment too. It's just about finding the right people. For me, the boys I grew up with were not the ones who would validate me and lift me up. But that doesn't mean they can't do that for others, or other boys couldn't do that for me. It just means I needed my girl gang because they were what I sought out - and I think everybody should find their own girl gang because people build people.