![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/why-i-love-my-scoliosis-scar.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
It took me nearly 10 years to accept the 21-inch scoliosis scar running down my back and another five years to love it. Now, it’s just as much a part of me as my personality or the way that I laugh.
But being told at 13 you have to wear a back brace is devastating. It feels like the world is against you, because the last thing you want to be at that age is different. It didn’t help I wore braces on my teeth and thick glasses on my face — a trifecta of circumstances that made me a prime…
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