Happy International Women’s Day!

On a day like today, I think it’s important to stop and honor the many smart, brave, and wonderful women who are helping to make the world a brighter, better place for our gender. I know that I’m personally inspired every day by the strength of the women I’m surrounded by. From the real women whose examples I aim to follow with every step to the fictional women I am proud to call inspirations, there are no shortages of powerful female role models in my life.

To those women who have made me a better woman just by being themselves, I give you my undying gratitude. And to those women who—like all of us at some point or another—are fighting to define themselves in a world that still sees the feminine as “weak” and the worth of men as greater than women, I give you a hand to hold and the promise that you’re not alone.

Women are strong and smart and funny. We’re powerful and ambitious and determined. We’re warm and generous and encouraging. We can be doctors, lawyers, and writers; teachers, CEOs, and stay-at-home moms. We can be anything. We can be everything.

Never let someone tell you that you can’t be or do something just because you’re a woman. You have just as much a right to your dreams as a man.

So here’s to the girls who know that being told you do something “like a girl” shouldn’t be an insult—it’s an honor.

Take a second today to thank the women in your life who’ve helped you see your own beauty, strength, and potential. Because you have all of those things and more. Never forget that.

Today and every day, I’m proud to be a nerdy girl. And I wish for life to give you people and experiences that make you proud to be whatever kind of girl you want to be.