Selena Gomez is wise well beyond her 21 years of age.
The singer-actress delivered a poignant, heartfelt speech at We Day California on Wednesday, opening up about her own personal struggles to inspire her young, eager audience.
"I'm surrounded by people who are supposed to guide me, and some of them have and others haven't," she said. "They pressure me. There's so much pressure. You've gotta be sexy, you've gotta be cute, you've gotta be nice, you've gotta be all these things."
"You can all relate," she said to the crowd. "You all have pressure that you have to deal with every day—with school, with work, with friends, with parents, with family."
"They tell me what to wear, how to look, what I should say, how I should be," she continued. "Until recently I had given into that pressure, I lost sight of who I was. I listened to opinions of people and I tried to change who I am because I thought others would accept me for it. And I realized I don't know how to be anything but myself."
"All I really want you to know is that you are changing the world," she said, adding modestly, "I'm not changing the world, you're changing the world, and that's amazing."
Selena went on to urge the kids at We Day, "Please be kind to each other. Let's do it. Let's change the game!"
And above all, she said, "Please stay true to yourself."