1. What are three of your best qualities?
I’d say being optimistic, intelligent, caring, and trustworthy. Sometimes, too caring but I forget that people take advantage of the kindness. Nowadays, no one is ever caring towards one another. It’s rare and hard to find someone who genuinely cares for your well-being and not for other reasons. Trustworthy, because my friends usually share personal information and for some reason. I feed off a type of energy that allows other people to trust me.
2. What are three of your worst qualities?
Well, I am not perfect and do not wish to be. I’m perfectly flawed in different areas in my life. I worry about the small things in life, which in itself can be a blessing or a curse...depending how you look at it. I can also be very hard on myself. I’m not entirely sure why. I feel like since my single mom was always hard on my sister and I, it just became second nature in order to succeed academically or in other areas of my life. But now, through SSU free CAPS/ therapy, I am able to recognize it more while simultaneously working on improving my attitude towards it.
3. What do you love the most about your body?
I love that our bodies can heal and we can always start fresh physically. Not sure if it’s the kinesiologist in me to subconsciously think this way but I think it’s amazing how our bodies are capable of healing. Whether it’s from a cut, temporary scar, or even the pain from a heartbreak.
4. What is one part of your body you wish you loved more?
I’ve been self-conscious about my stretch marks because of the texture. If I decide to wear shorts, I contemplate on wearing them because of this. It’s a work in progress and through Zelda’s campaign, I know this definitely has helped women such as myself in loving them a bit more.
5. Do you practice self love as often as you'd like to?
I don't always practice self love as often as I’d like to. Busy schedule gets in the way but that shouldn't be an excuse. Sometimes, I set high expectations and other times I am really hard on myself. I don't realize it until I talk with close friends or ask for their opinion. I also tend to put other people before myself and I forget about myself and what I want to do. Naturally, I want others to feel loved and welcomed that self love interconnects from making others feel comfortable and loved. Other times, I try to take the time out of my day to get my nails done or do at home face masks. Again, being hard on myself...I feel like if I were to do this all the time, I’m essentially not doing anything productive.
6. What lesson do you hope to instill to your children about self-love & body acceptance?
In the future when I do have children, I hope to instill a positive perspective about body image. I will tell them to not be so hard on themselves. But if they do see that they would like work on a particular area of the body, I would encourage them to simply go to the gym and not to get anything surgically done. Self- love is important and must come first, above all. I would also share my knowledge about self-love and body acceptance because we are all different, just like no one has the same DNA. We are all created beautifully - even if we tend to not think positively of our body.
7. Describe your journey with body acceptance...
I’ve come to accept my stretch marks and scars. There's nothing I can do to have prevented them. The more I remind myself this, the more I become more accepting of them. I was also very self-conscious with my scar and stretch marks because it’s just an odd place to have a scar. But the integumentary system (skin) is so flexible, it reminds me that scars and stretch marks are a particular kind of beauty. It tells a story and can be a constant reminder that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.
8. What about self love are you continuing to work on?
I am working on being more comfortable with my flaw. Self-love is all that really matters. Recognizing that no one is perfect is a reminder. I have come to learn that the most flawed thing we perceive ourselves to have, can be something distinctly beautiful to someone else. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s all about self-love.
9. How do women need to improve interacting with one another?
Women need to improve interacting with one another by being more loving towards each other. Women can sometimes be so quick to judge but often times, their judgement is a reflection of how they truly feel about themselves. Women can create better connections through communication and building relationships. Interacting and doing activities together can make a step further towards actually get to know where people come from. Also, stating compliments can go a long way.
10. What is one of your qualities you wish shined brighter than your exterior appearance?
My humbleness is one quality I would want to be shined more brighter. I feel like it’s a hard quality to have shined exteriorly. In my opinion, it’s sort of hard to be humble sometimes but if people saw it from an exterior appearance, I believe our World would be just a bit better. We would be more understanding of each other and acknowledge the good in others, rather than being so quick to judge.
11. What is something you wish you could have told yourself at your most fragile state?
I wish I could have told myself to be more kind and gentle with myself from the start. I have the tendency to put so much pressure on myself whether in my academics or even on the job force. It’s just something that has grown to be a part of my character. It can be harmful for anyone to focus on the negatives.
12. What is the best compliment you have ever recived?
The best compliment I have ever received was that I genuinely look internally happy and as a result, it radiates from the exterior view. This took me by surprise because no one ever really compliments this way. It's interesting recognizing what other people see in you and what they think that stands out the most about you.
