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SBU | Life

The Art Of Not Caring

Alexandra Iannarelli Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

I know it’s cliché, but not caring what others think really changes your perspective on life.

When I was growing up, my looks were one of the only things I cared about. I was on the heavier side, short, I wore thick glasses, and my two front teeth were social distancing. For a shy young girl, this was difficult.

Seeing other girls around my age who were skinny, tall, and had long, luscious hair had it all in my eyes. I always held a grudge towards them; I was so jealous that I didn’t have any of those features. 

As I grew older, I grew into my body. I grew taller, slimmed out (out of my baby fat, I mean), and got Invisalign to finally straighten out my giant tooth gap. I started to gain a new confidence in myself that I didn’t know was possible. 

Not only was my view of my body changed, but I also started to show my real personality. Finding confidence in myself gave me the opportunity to finally show my true colors. I grew out of my quiet, shy self I used to be into the loud and positive person I am today. 

Once I gained this self-assuring attitude, I stopped caring about what others thought of me. I started to put myself in uncomfortable positions where I would have to speak for myself and meet new people. It was terrifying initially.

At first, coming to college and having to find brand new friends after being with the same friend group for all of high school had my timbers shivering. I was terrified, but I knew that once I met a small handful of people, they would lead me to the people they knew, and so on from there.

Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened. I can now proudly say I have people all over campus that I can call my friends. Learning how to put myself out there was probably the toughest thing to learn when coming to college; I am so proud of myself for doing so. 

My negative view of my looks and personality has completely diminished ever since learning not to care about what others think of me. 

It’s safe to say I still get jealous from time to time, seeing these other women who are naturally beautiful on the inside and out, but not comparing myself to them is key. Going my own way and being my true self is all I need. I don’t care what others think of me anymore, as long as I am happy with myself. 

Alexandra Iannarelli

SBU '29

Alexandra Iannarelli is in her second year with Her Campus! She is a sophomore at St. Bonaventure and is majoring in public health, minoring in health science, and is in the occupational therapy masters program! Alex will be writing weekly articles about anything in her life or even silly things happening around campus.

So far she has been involved in Her Campus, of course, and SBU Power Yoga. Beyond the clubs she is in, Alex also works on campus as a math tutor and loves to help and teach people.

In high school, Alex played volleyball, ran and did hurdles for the track team, and for about 9 years was a competitive cheerleader! Although quiet at times she is pretty outgoing and loves trying new things when the opportunity arises. Traveling is her favorite and she hopes to travel the world one day! Little things about Alex include her love for collecting records! She has multiple genres of music in her collection and she hopes to continue to expand said collection. Another little hobby of hers is going to the gym and doing yoga. Alex is into yoga, pilates, and she has been going to the gym for a little over two years now. She has been known to be somewhat of a health-nut, in her dorm there are protein bars galore and many other typical healthy snacks. She can't wait to continue her years in Her Campus sharing her stories.