She’s got the best of both worlds. From being the double identity pop star by night, normal teenage girl by day, to now a twerking, wrecking Hollywood celeb who can’t stop and won’t stop, Miley Cyrus has changed in more ways than some can imagine from her childhood to today.

Born on November 23, 1992 as Destiny Hope Cyrus to Billy Ray Cyrus and Leticia “Tish” Cyrus, she quickly became “Miley” from the word “smiley,” as a result of her contagious smile as a young child. Miley was raised on her parents’ farm and grew up in the suburbs of Nashville, where she attended Heritage Middle School and later on switched to a private tutor. She has a younger brother, Braison; a younger sister, Noah Lindsey; two half-brothers, Christopher Cody and Trace; and a half-sister, Brandi.

At the age of eight, her family moved to Toronto, Canada where her father starred in a television show called Doc. It was then that Miley decided she wanted to give acting a try and joined her father in a guest role on the show as a girl named Kylie.

At the same time, she developed an interest in music. Miley learned how to sing and began writing songs as a preteen.

However, it wasn’t until she became Hannah Montana that her career really took off. She starred in Hannah Montana as the title role, acting as a 14-year old average teenager involved with school, friends, and family, all the while doubling as a huge pop star.

Hannah Montana began on Disney Channel on March 24, 2006 and quickly gained popularity, drawing attention to the young, talented star. She sold millions of albums and became a role model for teens all over the world. Her first album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, came out on June 26, 2007, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200, with 326,000 copies being sold in just the first week of its release. Because of her success, Miley became the 59th on the “Most Influential People” list on Time magazine in 2008 and was estimated to have earned $25 million in just a year, from June 2007 to June 2008, placing her as #35 on “2008 Forbes Celebrity 100.”

In addition to starring on the TV series, Hannah Montana: The Movie also came out, in which Miley reprised her role once again as Hannah Montana. Her second album titled Breakout featured a hit song, “7 Things,” about her former ex, which hit #10 in the third week.

Along with her TV appearances and music performances, the media magnified Miley’s personal life. Controversial pictures such as the infamous image of her posing half naked in Vanity Fair, led to criticism that she was not being the role model teens looked up to. She also went through a fair share of relationships, including Nick Jonas and Justin Gaston and became friends with other child stars from Disney Channel, like Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.

In 2009, she filmed The Last Song alongside Liam Hemsworth, and the two became a couple. Three years later, in June 2012, the couple was engaged, even though many breakup rumors surrounded them.

Miley released another album in 2010 called Can’t Be Tamed, in which she tried to part from the sweet, clean image she had gained as Hannah Montana. She became busy promoting her album and touring across America, performing at live concerts for her fans.

Hannah Montana ended with the fourth and final season on January 2011. Miley slowly began moving away from “Hannah Montana” and started acting in to two movies LOL and So Undercover, which were both released in 2012.

However, recently Miley has undergone a totally different transformation. In September 2012, she chopped off her hair, leaving an edgy, platinum blonde short hairdo in place of her long, wavy brown locks.

Her lead single “We Can’t Stop” from her newest album Bangerz broke the Vevo record with the most views in just 24 hours. Her music video shows her twerking with teddy bears and acting extremely suggestively while wearing scandalous clothing. Then at the VMAs in August 2013, she pulled off a very provocative performance that became headlines for newspapers and magazines everywhere.

Miley has no doubt changed.  However, for the better or for the worse? In NY Daily News she admitted, “I was an adult when I was supposed to be a kid… So now I’m an adult, and I’m acting like a kid.” Many other child stars, such as Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, were also forced to grow up too quickly. They fell into partying, drinking, and drug usage, ultimately leading to their downfall.

Her recent behavior has rendered many speechless, so let’s take a moment of silence in remembrance of that innocent, bright girl who was the role model to many in her years of Hannah Montana and just hope she realizes what is happening before she ends up falling into the same downward spiral as some previous celebrities before her have done.

And just remember what Hannah Montana used to say: nobody’s perfect.