Dear Elisa,

You are more than beautiful. You are brilliant and kindhearted.

Lately, you’ve been masking the intelligent and compassionate side of yourself under a layer of blush and mascara.

I noticed that you’re sitting with a different group of friends at lunch. I worry that you’re trying so hard to fit someone else’s definition of beauty that you are forgetting the truest parts of yourself.

The first two weeks of school, you earned A’s and B’s on every assignment. More recently, you haven’t been turning in completed work, and your quiz score last Friday was a low C. Today, I had to call home when I saw you doodling Julian’s name on your binder instead of taking notes.

Boys notice a pretty face, but they fall in love with a clever and kind spirit. If beauty is your highest pursuit, you are limiting yourself. You can be so much more than just another cute girl. You can be a knockout, a bombshell, a powerful young woman who wears her brilliance and kindness in an irresistible way.

The secret to true and lasting beauty is confidence in who you are, not how you look.

You are beautiful, and you are so much more.

All my love,

-Ms. Jackson