I always wanted to be a princess. I wanted to live in that fairy tale world. I wanted to be Snow White.

In fact, I can't remember a time during my childhood when I didn't fantasize about being Snow White. I used to sit on the swing set in my backyard singing "Someday My Prince Will Come" and actually thinking he would -- all I had to do was wait. I wanted that same sweet persona that came with this fairy tale character. Because -- after all -- that's what got you somewhere in life.

But after collecting way too much Snow White memorabilia, watching the movie one too many times, playing her part in children's theaters around Philadelphia and coming to college, I realized something -- I don't want the fairy tale.

As girls, we grow up with these fantasies ingrained in our brains. Without knowing it, we are force fed these tales of woe that teach us nothing substantial. In most ways, these are the stories that harm us. While it is great to think of yourself as a princess, it is also harmful to try and emulate a character that is, despite what we thought, a weak woman.

Think about it -- Snow White simply carries out any task that her Evil Stepmother asks her to. She doesn't question it, but instead relies on her own goodness to one day get herself out of the situation she finds herself in. Not only that but she thinks that a prince -- a man -- will somehow find her, sweep her off her feet, and take her to a castle far away in the sky.

Girls, this doesn't happen. And if it did, would we really want it to?

After coming to college, I've come to the realization that I don't need anyone to save me. I don't need someone to come and get me out of any bad situations I manage to get myself into. I can do that myself. I am perfectly capable and independent enough to support myself. If we sit back and wait for things to happen to us we'll die still waiting.

But that's not the only reason I've given up on my fantasy of becoming Snow White.

While in many respects I do think of myself as a princess and although it's quite possible my mother is the only other person on God's green Earth that agrees, I've discovered that being a princess is a tough job.

For one thing, if I were to go down to Disney World in order to pursue the dream of actually being Snow White, I'd be getting paid a small hourly wage, I'd have to stay outside in the heat all day and be happy. I'd have to be happy all the time.

Imagine that, never being able to get frustrated or angry -- in my woman's handbook that does not fly. There's absolutely no way I'd be able to be a sugarcoated, wishy-washy character for any extended period of time.

So I'm going to dispel Snow White's idea of what it takes to be a princess. You don't have to be pretty or submissive or passive in order to live the fairy tale. You don't have to base your life around something other than yourself. You don't have to be in high spirits all the time. It's OK to be cranky.

Being a princess is a mindset and not a pre-conceived notion. Besides if being a princess means smoldering in the heat while being attacked by anxious kids -- I'll pass, but thanks anyway.

Life is not a fairy tale and it probably shouldn't be. If every situation ended with a happy-ever-after then what would get out of life? Our circumstances, however bad they may be, shape us as people and make us better. I've watched my own mother in amazement. She single-handedly raised me and my sister, worked three jobs and got through life despite the adversity she faced. As a child I wanted for nothing and that was because of my mother's determination to give her children what she thought they deserved -- despite what sacrifices she had to make. And she did all this with grace, style and dignity.

When the going got tough she did not run and hide but rather faced everything head-on. That's who I want to be. I want to be the person who has so much strength that nothing can stop them. My mother's life has not been a fairy tale, but in my eyes she is a princess.

I'm not Snow White, nor do I want to be. I know that now anyway. But I am a princess. I'm a woman who can do things on her own and demands a level of respect, as does royalty.

But I'm also a lot older than I was when I first dreamed of singing into a wishing well.

My wishing well is my education, which will enable me to pursue my dreams on my accord.