The piece below is the winning collegiate essay in the Network of Enlightened Women’s 2025 essay contest.

When I was first allowed to have an Instagram account, my parents put strict boundaries around my app use: limited screen time, accountability in who I followed and who followed me, and specific standards on what I could or couldn’t post. It was fun to have an account, but I felt restrained. I couldn’t understand how something so fun could be as bad as my parents said.