Name: Demi Taylor
Age: 21
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Major: Political science and psychology
Why did you choose VCU?
University of Texas was actually my first choice. I was a little rebel growing up and wanted to get away, but my mom wanted me to go to George Mason University which was only 30 minutes away from home. Then one day, I decided to visit one of my best friends who was attending VCU at the time, and I fell in love with the campus.
What’s your favorite thing about this school?
Absolutely everything! I really love Richmond. All my friends are here and everything is walking distance. There are so many activities to do every single weekend, I’m never bored.
What do you plan on doing after graduation?
I’d like to take a break after graduation and move to Los Angeles for a year or two. I have a brother living out there and I want to work with him in the entertainment industry. So once I’ve saved up enough money, I’d eventually continue my education and attend law school. My passion is childhood obesity prevention. I want to focus on inner-city schools and educate kids about nutrition and community gardens.
You have some pretty cool tattoos, how many do you have? Do you have a favorite? Any that you regret?
Thank you, I have seven tattoos. As for favorites, it changes everyday! But if I had to pick one, it would be my sunflower tattoo on my elbow. My mom never approved of my tattoos. Growing up, we would always butt heads. I always snuck out and hid a lot of secrets from her. For my fourth tattoo, I got a sunflower because it’s her favorite flower. When I showed my mom, she instantly loved it and her whole perspective on tattoos changed and she’s so accepting. So this tattoo is definitely a metaphor for the turning point in our relationship because now I tell my mom everything and she’s so supportive. I do regret getting my first tattoo. It’s the Gemini symbol and I got it when I was 18. It cost $160 and only 15 minutes for the tattoo artist to do. Thank goodness it’s on my back so I don’t have to see it as often.
What is one surprising thing about you that not many people know?
I am a very strong person and I’m always ready to help others. However, I prefer to help myself in tough times. I do seem to hide my problems from everyone so I can deal with them alone.
I know you wrote a few articles for The Odyssey, what was your favorite article to write?
My favorite article was my first one for sure! I titled it “Booty Pics or Nah”. Last year, I helped my friend with one of her art projects, where she asked me to pose in my underwear. I decided to share this on my Instagram and despite the likes and positive feedback, I still received private texts from a few friends telling me I should take it down, and I just didn’t understand why some people were finding it so offensive. We see bikini pictures all the time, what’s the difference? I just wanted to let people know that posting booty pics isn’t some slutty thing — I had so much fun writing about it and explaining myself, even though I didn’t have to.
Photo taken by Pawnee Maiden
To read Demi’s full article, click here
You also have over three thousand followers on Instagram, which you use to raise awareness for body positivity and the free the nipple campaign, could you tell us more about your views on each movement?
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On free the nipple: Choosing whether or not you wear a bra or the kinds of pictures you post on social media doesn’t increase or decrease your self worth because at the end of the day the most important thing still is how you treat others. That’s why I think the body positivity and free the nipple campaigns are so important. Free the nipple takes the power back for women to be comfortable with whatever they wear, nips showing or not, and body positivity says it’s okay for us to be comfortable with ourselves no matter what size. These campaigns help to make up the foundation for building the courage to treat ourselves so we can treat others correctly. My goal when I started to support these campaigns was to be a constant source of love and inspiration for myself and others. Respecting yourself is so important because if you can’t respect or love yourself, you simply cannot respect or love anyone else the way they deserve to be, nor can you expect to receive and appreciate the respect and love others will give you.
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On body positivity: As much as I want to be a source of inspiration to people, I’m not perfect. I just started really supporting body positivity less than two years ago – that’s less than 10 percent of my life that I have dedicated to working to feel good about myself. I have 19+ solid years of insecurities, disorders and self-loathing that I have to work on every day with the intention that one day, choosing to love and respect myself won’t have to be such an active choice. I’ve gotten to a point that it isn’t as difficult as before to stop negative thought processes before they start, but even still I am reminded every now and again that the least expected can, does, and will happen, and although I have the power to not let it affect me, it can have the potential to crush everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish and I make me feel like I’m back even further than I started.
You’re definitely pretty confident about showing some skin on social media. Can you give some advice for girls our age about self-confidence?
The key is to keep going, because it will get hard. Self-love is an everyday commitment and when you fall off, you must get back on. I used to dwell on negative feelings because it was easy to do so, but nothing would get better if I didn’t actively try to help myself, which is so much easier said than done, I know, but it has to be done. There is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy phenomena I’ve learned through this process – negativity only garners more negativity, and positivity garners more positivity.
Tips to loving yourself/building confidence:
- Positive affirmations
- Find and do hobbies you enjoy
- Try something new everyday
- Remove negative influences and thoughts
- Surround yourself with positive people and positive energy
- Don’t be too hard on yourself
- Know that you have all the power within yourself
If I gave you a magic wand right now to grant yourself one wish for the world, what would you wish for?
That everyone loves themselves! I truly wish I can go around telling everybody that they’re awesome, because they are. I believe that a simple compliment goes a long way because everyone deserves to feel good about themselves. There would be such a difference in this world if we all lived with true happiness and no insecurities.
Follow Demi’s adventures on Instagram @motherfinesse