By Katia Brunson 

Opinion Assistant 

Her vocal chops are inspirational. Her passionate and poetic lyrics move you with themes about feminism, motherhood, sexuality, relationships and expressing your inner badass.

She manages her own career in addition to being a mother. Needless to say, Beyonce quickly became my biggest role model this year.

Around this time last year, Beyonce’s self-titled album dropped, rocking the entire world of pop culture. There was no promotion or advertisement preceding its release. Even diehard Beyonce fans were stunned into a stupor. Nevertheless, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, joining her last five albums. If Beyonce wasn’t already a queen, this album definitely established her as pop royalty.

Aside from her well-deserved status at the top of the pop culture food chain, I am thankful for Beyonce because she made me fall in love with myself. She helped me find my sense of pride in being a woman. She is exactly the kind of person I want to be: a flawless original that embraces her individuality, sexuality and her right to be equal with a man.

Along with helping me find myself and my sense of confidence, Beyonce taught me how harmful our society’s norms of beauty can be and that curves are sexy. She taught me that all I need from a man is love and respect. She taught me that you can do your best in this world and still lose, but that shouldn’t keep you from trying. Beyonce’s relationship with Jay Z taught me that there is such a thing as a healthy relationship, but even the best relationships have rough patches. Lastly, she reminded me that the greatest accomplishment in life is to find happiness.

Beyonce is a pop culture icon whose work speaks to a wide variety of people including musicians, women, mothers and feminists. She’s redefined the role of women in pop culture, but most importantly she redefined my own worth and made me embrace every aspect of myself as a capable, beautiful and a boss.