You walk into class, hair thrown back haphazardly, wearing sweatpants a t-shirt and flip flops.
As you take
your seat and glance around at the other girls decked out in clothing that accents their perfect figures with their hair flawlessly styled, a sinking feeling develops in your stomach and you become self-conscious.
Insecurity and jealousy. Every girl has felt these emotions and it’s often hard not to when we begin a new school year and the onslaught of beautiful faces are there to greet us (because let’s face it, we Temple girls are all beautiful creatures, are we not?) There’s always someone in the crowd who we feel inferior to in looks, style and/or general appeal. As we see in classic chick flicks like Pretty in Pink and Mean Girls, these feelings are often intensified by catty gossip and petty rumors.
Why does this happen? I headed to the Bell Tower to find out what my fellow Temple women felt on thesubject.
“Because they’re insecure about themselves,” Tanja Kojic puts simply.
Bri Tenety blames the media depiction of, “stick skinny,” models as the ideal of perfection.
But really, the solution is so much easier than we allow ourselves to believe. If we all followed these simple guidelines, we’d have a much more confident and happy female student body:
• Compliment Each Other! Rather than allowing jealousy to make you feel down on yourself, let her know
you love her bag, hair, outfit… whatever it is that caught your eye in the first place. Chances are you’ll either make her day, get a compliment back or both!
• Figure Out What Makes You Feel Confident. And stick with it. Do you hate your curly hair? Or maybe it hangs too flat for your liking. Can’t figure out how to jazz up your favorite pair of jeans? Take to YouTube for hair, makeup or clothing tutorials or ideas. You’ll figure out what does and doesn’t work for you and with a little trial and error you’ll find a personal style that makes you feel like you stand out from the crowd.
• Exercise and Diet. I know you’re rolling your eyes, but the truth is even if you’re the tiniest thing going greasy foods every day affect your mood. Hitting the elliptical or indulging in a salad every now and again can give you a sense of self-satisfaction… even if you do it once a month. Fret not, chocolate indulgence still cures depression. *wink*
• Discover Your Passion and Pursue it. Love photography? Painting? Writing? Whatever it is you’re into chances are Temple has a club for it. Seriously, we have hundreds of clubs and organizations on campus, it may just take a little digging. And if your search turns up empty, get some flyers up and start one. Temple may even pay for it! (Visit templestudentgovernment.org/allocations for more information.) If you’re doing something you love with people who share your passion you’ll have less time to compare yourself to others.
Most importantly, love yourself. There is no one quite like you and like Cady Heron’s ever-quoted acceptance speech in Mean Girls says, everyone is a partial Spring Fling Queen.
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