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Introducing awesome, amazing Arielle! This 16-year-old Toronto student has found her calling quite early in her life. To teach the world to embrace the fact that no one is perfect.
How I love this lesson, and I know that I am not alone.
You must be thinking, how is this awesome, amazing Arielle tackling this ambitious endeavor?
By writing a book. It’s called Perfectly Imperfect. (@perfectlyimperfect.trich)
You also must be thinking, that there must be a reason why Arielle has taken the time to spread this much-needed message. Why now? What for? And doesn’t this 16-year-old have better things to do?
Not when you are struggling with Trichotillomania. A mental health condition that involves urges to pull hair from your scalp, eyelids, or other parts of your body where hair grows.
Like any mental health condition, Trichotillomania does not define Arielle. Who she is. What she stands for. How she lives each day, with gratitude, hope, and tenacity. Standing by her favourite quote: “Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success”.
How lucky was I to meet Arielle in person, read her book and interview her?
You know the drill. Sit back and enjoy the awesome, amazing Arielle and what she has to say about embracing the struggle.
Advice that we can all learn from.
I am a hard-working grade 11 student at TanenbaumCHAT with a passion for learning. A dedicated daughter, sister, granddaughter, and cousin, with strong familial ties. My favourite night of the week is Friday when I can spend the evening with my extended family.
Friends are very important to me. I think my friends would consider me a helper, a good listener, and someone they can rely on.
Sports have played a big role in my life. I played hockey for many years on a co-ed team, along with tennis, and I am also an active soccer player. In fact, I will be playing in the Maccabiah Games in Israel this summer.
Most importantly, I have become an advocate for Trichotillomania ( “Trich”), publishing my first story, “Perfectly Imperfect”. I hope that people with “Trich”, or any others facing obstacles, will embrace their perfect imperfections.
I love English class. It is an opportunity to explore good books and discuss them in unique depth, allowing me to gain different perspectives on the themes at hand. I have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing English teachers over the years, making the subject even more special to me.
The majority of my time is spent doing school work, but when I have time for myself, I spend it with my friends and family, playing soccer, or watching TV.
My go-to things to do are reading, scrolling through social media, calling a friend, and going for a walk.
In order to preserve my stress levels throughout the day, I exercise in the morning. This provides me with an energetic start to the day. If stress arises, I try to get some fresh air, take short breaks from whatever I am doing, talk to a friend, or read.
Movies: Pitch Perfect. Mean Girls. High School Musical. A Star is Born. The Greatest Showman.
Books: November 9th. Me Before You. Every Last Word. Me and My So-Called Friends.
To my fellow people who live with Trich… Embrace it! Your hair does not define you or your beauty so don’t feel as though you need to hide from everyone. To the world who may not be familiar with Trich… this behaviour is much more common than you think. Even if you don’t know it by name, you probably know someone who is living with it. It is not something that is in their control, nor something they can stop. Even if it is not with regards to Trichotillomania, just treat everyone with kindness. You never know what anyone is going through, so welcome anyone and everyone with open arms.
My older brother, Noah, is someone I look up to. His kindness, bravery, and humour, are traits that he always embodies with such pride. I have always tried to imitate him in an attempt to be like him. If his favourite colour was yellow, so was mine, I watched him play hockey and I immediately wanted to play too. He always is so much fun to be around, and overall just someone whose character I would love to emulate.
Perfectly Imperfect. A book, suitable for all ages to learn about Trichotillomania. A book will not only explain the condition but will teach the reader what to do when someone is dealing with some sort of struggle, whether it is visible or not.
Congratulations awesome, amazing Arielle! May your book get into the hands of many. As it is needed, more than we all know.