What makes someone truly special?

Award-winning journalist Mariana Atencio discovered the best way to belong was to embrace the qualities that made her different.

Read on to find out how you can embrace yourself . (Source: Pexels)

‘Special qualities’ in a person can range from skills, talents or the ability to do something truly unique. From a young age, we are encouraged to inculcate a few of these abilities into our lives. Amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is easy to forget we still possess those qualities.

In this inspiring video, journalist Mariana Atencio chronicled her life experiences and explained how important it is to keep believing in yourself and embracing everything, the good and bad.

Atencio visited the US for the first time when she was seven-years-old and next, when she was 24, and moved there permanently from Venezuela. Her father sent her to a summer camp in Brainerd, Minnesota. She was treated like an outsider throughout, including a senior year at an American high school.

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Over the course of years, she discovered that the best way to belong was to embrace the qualities that made her different. When she initially moved to the US, all she wanted to do was to fit in: she had the option of getting close to a girl from the Middle East called Fatima, she did not take the opportunity, thinking that it might hinder her chances of being popular. She remembered how she treated Fatima, like she had nothing unique to offer. Atencio admitted she was wrong.

She mentioned the sympathy her sister and family received when her sister lost function in both of her legs due to an accident. “But during that traumatic ordeal, I learned there are differences that simply suck, and it’s hard to find positive in them. My sister’s not better off because of what happened. But she taught me: you can’t let those differences define you. Being able to reimagine yourself beyond what other people see, that is the toughest task of all, but it’s also the most beautiful.”

She went on to say, “If you look at my story, from being born somewhere different, to belly dancing in high school, to telling stories you wouldn’t normally see on TV, what makes me different is what has made me stand out and be successful. I have traveled the world, and talked to people from all walks of life. You know what I’ve learned? The single thing every one of us has in common is being human.”

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