Alex Kutlin is the definition of confidence and strength. You can feel it radiating from her the moment you’re in her presence. Alex is someone who positively changed herself and is going to venture into the world and change it as well. After four years at UVic, she will be leaving with a B.A. in Arts and Psychology, as well as unforgettable memories and life changing lessons. However, this will not be the last we hear of Alex. She aspires to change some of the attitudes society has towards self image.
The Importance
Alex says that she “could go on forever about self image” because to her it is such an important subject. When Alex was about 18 years of age she struggled with insecurities, as many of us do. That unhealthy view of herself aided in the development of an eating disorder. Alex knows firsthand the consequences of feeling poorly about yourself. Internalizing negative energy has a significant impact on health and identity .Your mood, behaviour and happiness is influenced greatly by how you see yourself. These negative attitudes have the potential to lead to self doubt, anxiety and disorders. Alex’s personal experiences have driven her towards advocating against self depreciation.
How She Does It
Alex tries to get the word out about loving your body in whatever way she can. She has advocated on the topic by speaking to eating disorder awareness for res life and services. Her passions drove her to take part in helping to plan the Hugs4Health event that took place this past Friday. It is really important to her that during the exam season, students take time to de-stress. Her involvement in Vikes Nation has allowed her to participate in events such as the yoga rave which she saw as an event that gave people a way to chill, have fun and relieve themselves of any stress acquired from the weekdays. “Vikes Nation helps with [emotional health]”, she says “because it [has] a holistic perspective [on health]”. Though she will not be around to help out as much in the following years, she is confident that Vikes Nation will provide activities for the physical and emotional well being of students on campus.
The Future
The reason Alex is in psychology is plain and simple: she wants to make people happy. She wants to help those who may be battling insecurities or have feelings of worthlessness as they compare their lives to the ones sprawled across Facebook. Her desire is not just limited to those who are aware of the negative forces in their lives. She strives to help prevent these issues from arising in the first place. Her dream is to take people “from surviving to thriving” ; she wants to assist others in discovering and reaching their full potential. She worked to overcome her struggle and believes that “nothing should hold [you] back”.
Alex created the art piece above to challenge the modeling industry. It is metaphorical and is meant to depict how female bodies are being forced to fit into specific measurement requirements. The lines represent cages, locking girls into sizes the industry desires. It is spread out across three canvases in order to represent the fragmentation of the multiple views regarding beauty.
The ability to be creative is the force that drives Alex to pursue her goals. Look out for this girl; she’s bound to be making headlines in the future.