What are your best qualities?
My favorite qualities about myself are my empathy and ambition - together, they have made me a force in the world. I am on a continuous journey of understanding and accepting others to make this world a better place. I also adore my freckles.
Do you have any undesirable qualities?
My worst quality is my tendency to harshly criticize myself. When I make a mistake or I don’t feel beautiful, I sometimes allow negative thoughts to affirm I am a failure, I am unworthy, or I am not beautiful. Over the past year or two, I’ve learned to counter these thoughts with the internal question, “would I speak to a friend this way?” Would I tell a friend they were not beautiful or a failure? Absolutely not. I’ve learned to internally address myself as I would a friend and that is where my positive self-talk has born.
What are your most afraid of right now?
I am terrified of having imposter syndrome. I am working diligently to become the best, most confident, brilliant version of myself as well as applying to graduate school and I sometimes fear I am lying to myself. Like I am making up a false reality of who I actually am just so I can get into grad school and appear to be that confident and collected. Nonetheless, I reassure myself every day that my potential has no boundaries and I deserve to be the best version of myself.
What do you love most about your body?
I love the way my body carries me without me consciously thinking about it - I value its reliability. Every day, no matter how I am feeling, my body will get up and do as I need without question. I love how amazing my body moves on a dance floor or in the gym. It took me so many years to value you my body for it’s ability and not base its value on appearance. Its ironic actually, I love the appearance of my body more now that I truly value its capabilities than before when all I focused on was its appearance.
What about yourself are you working on loving more?
I am working on loving my body type more. I have a shorter, athletic body which doesn’t always fit standards held by social media and other popular platforms. There are still moments where I doubt myself and the way I look because no matter how hard I try, I will never be long, leggy, nor a double zero. But this body is mine, it works for me every day, it attracts the right people for me, and it rocks the heck out of my favorite pair of jeans!
Tell us the story about your stretch marks and scars…
I had an eating disorder for a long time. My body experienced so many changes as my weight varied over the years. I was trying so hard to gain control over my life through manipulating my body that I lost all control and felt helpless. My support system saved me and I dove into practicing self-love like it was the oxygen I need. My stretch marks are not wounds. They are the medals I earned for surviving a journey that, at one point, seemed impossible. They remind me I am a survivor and that I can make it through anything.