Student, 18, who stands 6ft 2in tall reveals she's stopped on the street by strangers in awe of her height - and refuses to slouch to fit in with shorter friends
A teenager proud of her 6ft 2in frame revealed she is stopped in the street by strangers in awe of her height. Tara Humphris, 18, from Oxford, said she has always been taller than all of her friends but refuses to slouch just to fit in. Instead she has always embraced her height and even adds extra inches by wearing heels. And her striking height never goes unnoticed. 'In terms of reactions, I always get lots of glances, often stares and compliments about my height and the way I flaunt it,' Tara said. 'Random strangers even stop me in the streets to ask my height and tell me I look elegant and graceful, which as anyone can imagine is such a confidence boost.'
Tara credits her height for enabling her to excel in sports, such as basketball, netball and badminton, which she now competes in at university in Bath.
When she's out Tara receives lots of stares, double takes and compliments about her height, with people stopping to tell her she exudes elegance and grace, something she says gives her a massive confidence boost.
Tara is the tallest female in her family and her brother, Josh, is already 6ft 5in at 16.
However, Tara credits her mother, Elaine, who is 5ft 11in for making her feel positive and confident about her height, after her parent struggled with her own height when she was at school and didn't truly embrace it until later in life, when she saw Tara growing taller.
Incredible pictures show Tara standing proudly amongst her friends and wearing heeled boots to make herself even taller.
Tara said: 'Growing up I've always been taller than all my friends and was the tallest girl in my entire secondary school when I was only 15 and I loved it.'
'I was known for being the tall blonde girl and always stood out in a crowd. My height also came in handy for sports as I was very active, playing basketball, netball and badminton at competitive levels throughout school, which I also now continue at uni.
'I cannot thank my mum enough as I can confidently say that she is the reason I feel so positive about my height, as she brought me up telling me to stand proud with my shoulders back and head held high and told me that if anyone was ever mean about my height it was only because they are jealous.
'Therefore, I can honestly say that there has never been a moment in my life where I wished I was shorter, as my mind set is that you can't change your height so you've just got to embrace it.
'In my opinion, there's nothing worse than a tall girl standing slouched in a failed attempt to look the same height as her friends, you've just got to love your height and stand confidently as confidence radiates off a person, especially if that person is tall and proud of it.
'Therefore, I've also always loved wearing heels as I'm already tall so I figure I might as well be taller.
'My mum on the other hand grew up the opposite, as she hated being tall, standing at 5ft 11in herself she was always the tallest through school as well but lacked the confidence and support I had growing up, it was only later on in her life that she began to enjoy her height, in particular when me and all my cousins started growing taller than her she began to embrace it fully.
'I have a big family and have a whole squad of 6ft to 6ft 5in cousins and even my younger brother at the age of 16 is already 6ft 5in. This is another reason I love my height as I've constantly grown up with people taller than me and it's great, however I can proudly boast that I am the tallest girl in my entire family.'
The only time when the comments she receives frustrate her slightly is on a night out when people state the obvious that Tara is a tall woman, something she tries to laugh off.
She shared her words of advice to others to encourage them to embrace what makes them unique.
She continued: 'However I must say the only times I find it funny but frustrating, is if I'm on a night out and drunk people say to me, "oh wow, you're tall", because I just say back to them, "ok, thanks for letting me know, not like I didn't know that or anything", and then they usually feel bad or humiliated for stating the obvious and I just laugh, because I don't mind it really.
'The main message I wish to convey is just to love yourself, everyone was made unique so you've just got to work with that, embrace yourself and live everyday as it comes.'