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Home And Away star Penny McNamee: My high school hell

The starlet shares the hurdles she's overcome to get to Summer Bay.
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Down-to-earth, humble and honest, Penny McNamee has fought her own battles to feel comfortable in her own skin. The Home And Away star reveals some of the hurdles she’s had to overcome to help become the strong, independent woman she is today. Penning a letter to her ‘Year Nine self’, McNamee shares the things she wished she’d known back then.

‘To my year-nine self,

See those cool girls across the quad, the ones who stopped sitting with you at lunch and ignored you on the bus? They are not the girls you want to be friends with. 

Stop looking to the cool girls and wishing you were friends with them. Find the funny, kind, interesting girls – the ones who laugh at themselves, not others. The ones who have dreams and goals beyond what party they had going to that weekend or what boy they want to kiss.

‘Find the girls who have hobbies and passions – those who play instruments, who ride horses, who scrapboook, who draw, who write! Find the girls who help others, who do charity work, who lift each other up. 

‘They are the girls who will go far in life, who will follow their dreams and help you achieve yours. They are the girls to hang out with at lunch. 

‘Forget the cool girls. Nerdy is the new cool!’ 

penny
(Credit: Jason Ireace)

For more Home And Away news see the official Home And Away magazine – New Idea. 

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