During my time in high school, I discovered something I never thought I would enjoy: piercings. 

Ever since I was a little girl, needles were the bane of my existence. Even if a needle was just on television, I would squeal and squirm. 

Of course, that made fall a very difficult season for my parents, and when I turned 11, I found out that I was supposed to get three shots in one day. Two of them were supposed to be a breeze. The third one, however, was the dreaded HPV vaccine, which my friend said hurt like a “f*cking b*tch.”

The night before my appointment, I was terrified. Feeling like my life was going to end, I sobbed in my mother’s arms, telling her that I would rather die than get three shots in one day. Still, the next day, I was forced out of her car and into the doctor’s office with puffy eyes and a racing heart. Of course, I cried my eyes out through the whole appointment. 

My fear of needles continued until my freshman year of high school, when I finally decided to do something about it. 

The grand resolution to getting over my fear of needles, I decided, was to poke through the soft flesh of my earlobe with an even bigger needle. So, on my 15th birthday, out of wanting to be brave and finally get over my fear, I asked my mom to get my ears pierced, and we did just that. 

It was the first time I ever had to face a needle that was bigger than a flu shot, and I was terrified. I was wired with anxiety and wanted to run away, to cower in fear just like I had done every fall. 

But I didn’t. Maybe because this time I did it out of my own volition, I managed to sit in that chair and get my ears pierced without shedding a single tear. Being able to withstand my worst fear of having a bicycle pump-sized needle punctured through my flesh made me feel freer than I ever had before. I was released from the shackles of fear that had been holding me down for my entire life. This intense, gut-wrenching fear was finally gone. 

Now, at 18, I — much to my parents’ disappointment — enjoy piercings and am far from being done. Since that day, the pain that comes with needles doesn’t bother me anymore. I have gotten three more piercings, two of which I have done myself (please do not do your own piercings!!!).

I love my piercings for the self-expression they give me and the power I feel when getting them done. They make me more confident and help me decorate myself in a way that makes me feel pretty. Additionally, knowing that I am purposefully overcoming my fear every time I get a piercing gives me a sense of freedom from the previous overwhelming fear I had. And, I am now able to get vaccines all by myself with no complaints!

So as a final goodbye, 

Thank you for reading, and push yourself to be brave.

From: Sara <3