Caitlyn Jenner On Feeling Like “A Teenage Girl” & Everything I Am Cait Taught Her

Caitlyn Jenner has had anything but a lazy summer. Since she introduced herself to the world on Diane Sawyer in April, it's been a whirlwind for the 65-year-old — who's gone from former Olympic gold medalist and shrinking violet on Keeping Up With the Kardashians to megawatt LGBT icon and fearless trans-advocate, all in a matter of months. In her latest essay for a WhoSay series called "The Real Me," Caitlyn shares some of the most important lessons she's learned so far. Much of that education has taken place in front of the cameras, on her critically acclaimed docuseries I Am Cait. Cait thanks friends like Jenny Boylan, Candis Cayne, and Chandi Moore for not only embracing her as one of their own, but for opening her eyes — and her viewers' — to the diversity of their community. "One of the many lessons that these fabulous women have taught me is that — despite all being transgender — they each feel differently about particular issues. It’s important to have an open dialogue with the trans people in your life about their unique viewpoints and not lump us all together," she writes. "There’s no one way to be trans!" Cait also admits how little she knew before about the marginalization that trans people endure on a daily basis. "Up until my transition, I had never met another openly trans person," she writes. "Job discrimination, sex work, ostracism from families, horrific violence... I had no idea what so many people go through to live as their true selves. It is staggering." To Cait's credit, she also confesses there was a time not long ago that she didn't appreciate the need for LGBT rights as basic as marriage equality. True to her way of encouraging everyone to be a little more accepting, Caitlyn reminds us to be brave in whatever challenges we're facing. "To have the courage to overcome obstacles and be your authentic self is an amazing process to go through. I want you to believe in yourself and know that you can deal with it. You can be okay." What's next for the busy lady? A well-deserved break. "I’m going to take a breather for a minute," she writes. "I want to continue to grow as a person. In so many ways I feel like I’m a teenage girl discovering herself!" We can't wait to discover more of that girl, too.