Power, Privilege, Oppression, and Intersectionality

In December, I was able to site lead an Alternative Break through CMU.  I site lead the Youth Development AB that went to Omaha, Nebraska to work with Youth Emergency Services, a non-profit organization that provides resources to homeless and nearly-homeless youth in the area. This AB challenged me in ways that other ones had not yet. Being a site leader, I had extra responsibilities, such as making sure everyone arrived safe, communicating with community partners, and facilitating community building and reflections with my group. I did this with a co-site leader, from who I learned from and problem-solved with. This AB also helped understand the depth of intersectionality more than my previous ABs had.

Through service we helped sort through donations, deliver donations, set up for a Christmas Service with the members of YES!, and help run the Christmas Service. Through working with the donations I learned a lot about how much privilege I have by having easy access to everyday products that I use and need. Specifically, I looked at this through the lens of being a woman. During service, I spent lots of time going through feminine hygiene products and was surprised at how many donations of tampons and pads there were. I then realized that if I had no income or way to pay for these necessities, I would have no way of getting them. Females NEED access to these every month, and it is something that is not often donated because it is overlooked. So, if you are looking to donate to a shelter, consider donating feminine hygiene products. I also learned from my community partner the terrifying statistic that once a female is homeless, within 90 minutes 43% will be a victim of sex trafficking. This AB made me think deeper about my privilege to have access to things that keep me safe and healthy but also how much of a privilege it is for me to even go on an Alternative Break. The ability to take off time from work and serve for a week is privilege. To have access to education is a privilege.

The Christmas Service was set up with donations from members and organizations in the community for those who utilize YES! to come and take what they need. This included, diapers, baby clothing, cooking utensils, toiletries, blankets, hats, gloves, coats, and clothing. Everything in the Christmas Service was brand new, it was a gift. This made me even more aware of my privilege because when I saw individuals coming through to take what they need, when given the choice of perfume/face masks or toothpaste/blankets, they chose the toothpaste or blankets or soap, because it was what they needed. They had the opportunity to take things that aren’t a necessity, and they would get excited about soap or diapers, because it was something they needed. I had one girl who was about 13 come up and ask me what all she should take in order to take care of her hair. In that moment, I realized that not everyone has access to learn about different elements of what we consider everyday actions, let alone have the materials to be able to do them.

I also learned how those in power are implementing policies that are harming these individuals. In Nebraska, one is not able to sign a lease for their own home or apply for a loan until 19. This means that the task of going to college or moving out is extremely difficult. This puts a large number of individuals without a home unless their parents can afford to help them once they are done with high school. It is disproportionately harming families from lower socioeconomic status areas and putting them in danger. This harm increases for communities of color, woman, and individuals with disabilities. This is one example of the way those in power have the ability to shape the lives of individuals.

Alternative Breaks never fail to make me realize my privilege and give me a resurgence in my belief that it is my responsibility as a person who has privilege to do my best to help those who have not had the privilege of being given access to the same things I have. I look forward to site leading another Alternative Break this summer.

Seasons of Service

Throughout my time at CMU, one of my favorite things I have been involved in is the Alternative Breaks Program (AB). The AB program provides students with issue education, service, and reflection with social justice issues through weekend and weeklong breaks that travel to different communities and assist them with whatever the community says they need. We are there to serve the communities.

When thinking about what the AB program means to me the one word I can use to describe it is community. The community comes from both the service we do with our community partners and the people that you meet.  The people that I have met through this program have become some of my best friends and support systems. The support doesn’t stop with just things occurring within the AB program but has brought me people and support that stretches outside of the AB web. I have gotten so much support in trying to figure out my professional goals and what I want to do with my life while also supporting any personal struggles I have faced while at CMU.  One of my friendships from AB, Shannon Dent, and I even made a remix to the song “Seasons of Love” about how much we love AB and Board. I wouldn’t trade our Thursday evening meetings for anything. These friendships all developed because of the sense of community and the conversations that Alternative Breaks starts. You are surrounded by people who have similar values to you and genuinely care about the people around them. Through office hours, long van rides, and service you gain the opportunity to be completely yourself and be extremely goofy at times and incredibly intentional at others. When going through an experience of growth with other people you create a bond with them that sparks that friendship and support, and I cannot imagine my time at CMU without the community that AB has helped build. It is because of the growth and community that the Alternative Breaks program has given me that I applied to be a part of the Alternative Breaks Advisory Board. This year, I was able to serve as a Site and Service Development Chair  (SSD) and a Site Leader and Orientation Chair (SLOT).

Through my involvement with Alternative Breaks this year I grew an immense amount in my knowledge of both the program and social justice. As an SSD I was given the task of planning the weeklong service experiences. This meant finding service and housing, writing Site Agreements, receiving Insurance from community partners, and making loads upon loads of phone calls. One of my favorite aspects of Alternative Breaks is the community partners we work with. I love being able to interact with them and learn from them. On all of my AB experiences I have been able to form connections and learn about different ways people are working toward social justice. As a Winter SSD during first semester, I had the opportunity to learn more about the community partners we work with beyond the scope of the ABs I have participated on and connect with them.

This year I also had an opportunity to experience the work that SLOT does.  SLOTs role is to train and prepare site leaders to lead their weeklong and weekend service experiences. This included writing trainings, writing weekly newsletters, and presenting trainings to site leaders. I was able to learn how important the role is to support site leaders and help them feel prepared to site lead their Alternative Break. I know for me through my site leading experience the time leading up to the break can be stressful, and I know I felt inadequate within my role at times. I utilized SLOT at those times and was able to have a resource to help me feel prepared. I was grateful to be able to use my experience to help prepare site leaders to have a successful, intentional, and growing experience while on their AB.

This program has helped me realize how strong my passion for social justice is, and it has helped me better understand the intersectionality of social justice issues and the importance of being an active citizen. I am extremely excited to complete my final year at CMU as a member of the AB Board as a returning SSD, and I am excited to continue to connect with community partners.

 

Veggie life, part 2

Last year, I joined Student Advocate for Vegan/Vegetarianism because I had just begun my journey as a vegetarian. I had started restricting meat from my diet due to hearing about the health benefits of being vegetarian.  I joined the Student Advocates for Vegan/Vegetarianism (SAVV) because I wanted to learn more about not only why I should be vegetarian, but also better tips and tricks to making food while vegetarian that I did not know.

Throughout my second year as a member of SAVV my love for being vegetarian and knowledge of how the meat industry negatively impacts our environment has grown immensely.  Every meeting I learn more about how making a small change in my daily life, I am able to impact the world on a larger scale.  Not only do I have the opportunity to learn inefficient meat production is, but also how harmful meat production is to the environment.  The amount of chemicals that are pumped into meat to make it taste better and last longer in storage are harmful to the environment, and these chemicals are taking the nutrients that are meant to be “good” for our body away.  Also,  the way animals that are raised for meat production is cruel. My biggest takeaway from my second year as a member of SAVV is that there are additional ways that I can be conscious of the environment while being vegetarian, such as limiting my amount of food and plastic waste. Often foods that are convenient to buy as a vegetarian are packaged in insane amounts of plastic that are harmful to the environment. Additionally, when buying fruits and veggies it is not difficult to not eat them before they go bad. I learned ways to better manage my food waste and limit my plastic use as well. I also have become more aware of how where I spend my money is impacting the environment as well. If I am buying and giving money to companies that are harmful to the environment, there will not be change. It has given the knowledge and power to vote with my dollar!

SAVV has given me the opportunity to constantly learn and become more conscious of how the way things are sold, not just what is being sold, matters too. I am grateful for my growth into a conscious consumer.

A Glimpse into my Journey with an Eating Disorder

I have battled in my mind a lot on whether or not I ever thought I would write about this.  Was it something I wanted others to know?  Was it going to look like a cry for attention?  Would people think of me as weak (my actual biggest fear due to my obsession with perfection)?  But as something that controls my thoughts and actions constantly, I want to share this intimate part of me with others, and I don’t want to feel the shame of my struggles.

I was sitting in an identity workshop a few weeks ago and was internally reflecting on what my identities were.  The obvious ones came to mind easily, I am a white, cis-gendered, hetero female.  But reflecting further beyond the things society has taught us to put an easy label on, my mind kept circuling to one central thought of who I am.  I am someone who lives with eating disorders.

The whole story of my journey with body dysmorphia, obsession over how I am percieved, my need for control, and the actions indicative of eating disorders is impossible to share in one blog post. To complete the full story of why, we would have to start at the beginning of my life, but I could write a whole other blog post about that. I’ll briefly talk about my childhood and when things started, but mostly, I am going to share how I cope, what I struggle with, and how seeing a professional and opening up to those who love me has helped me grow stronger.

Since I was young, I have fantasized the idea of death in my mind.  I was never seen as a sad kid/teen/adult, in fact I am usually known for being quite the opposite. Loud and energetic are the two most common words I hear used to describe me.  However,  in the middle of my sophomore year of college, this thought of death was the thing that took up all of my thoughts.  I would have anxiety attacks extremely often, miss class because I did not want to get out of bed, convince myself those around me hated me, and most importantly make lists, sometimes in my head, other times in the notes section of my phone, of reasons why those around me should hate and why I hate myself.  One of my close friends, Lauren, encouraged me to sign up to go to counseling.  Others had mentioned it before, but having this close friend constantly be pushing me to take that step helped me realize someone DID care about me.  It was then that these thoughts that I had thought were normal, were not.  I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and as I eventually divulged more in therapy, I was referred to another counseling center that specialized in eating disorders.

I had been purging since I was a sophomore in high school, restricting my diet and obsessing over calories in silence since I was 13, but I would have never thought that I would actually be told one day, “You have an eating disorder”, let alone did I think I would hear “You fit the descriptions of three different eating disorders”.  After hearing these words, it was like so many puzzle pieces fell together.  It made sense to me that I would get so many cavities.  It made sense to me that I always had acid reflux.  It made sense to me that I would get hiccups everytime I ate because I would eat my food so fast.  Later in therapy I learned more about body dysmorphia and how it has been controlling my life since elementary school.

Through all of these diagnoses being thrown my way,  it offered me an answer I had been wanting.  WHY.  Why did I struggle so much with this.  It simultaneously offered me comfort of having an answer while also making me feel weak and ashamed.  The shame came mostly from the same origins as the eating disorders themself,  I wanted to be perfect, and I wanted to be in control of what others thought of me.  I slowly started to share with those close to me, and the responses made things feel better and some made things worse.  “I don’t see you struggling with that”, “I have never seen you not eat”, “We don’t see you doing those things around us”.  Which often ended with me responding “Well yeah, I didn’t want you to see it”.  I was a master at hiding who I was.  I have struggled a lot of my life to make actual deep connections with people and hold on to them, and I still do at times.  However, the responses that were filled with love and support are the ones that I remember most.  My friends are the reason I am able to talk about this all now.

I wish I could say that through my therapy and the love I have gotten I have moved on from this identity and am practicing healthy eating habits.  At times that is true, but at others it seems impossible for me to think of not keeping track of everything I eat.  It seems impossible for me not to look in every reflective surface around me to evaluate how I look. I have come to view my eating disorder similarily to how someone would view a toxic friend.  You can often recognize they are not always helping you, but the idea of relying on them can bring you a lot of comfort.  You know them better than anyone else, and most importantly you believe they know you better than anyone else.  My eating disorder is a voice in my head constantly talking to me.  And sometimes it is hard as hell to tell it to shut up.  But I have learned some things through working with a professional that help me silence that voice.

1. Is there any evidence? : When I am feeling like others hate me for not being enough, when I feel like I am failing,  my counselor ( I consider her one of my best friends lol) has taught me to try as hard as I can to stop this irrational thoughts and try and make them rational by trying to make a list of actual phsyical evidence that proves that.  SPOILER ALERT: There usually is no evidence.  Additionally,  I try and find evidence that proves the exact opposite, that I am loved, that I am killing the game, and I am a strong powerhouse of a female.
2. Lets create some nueropathways yo:  I wake up every day and I fall asleep every night by telling myself things I love about myself (yeah some days are a lot harder, so I just fake it but the end result is that I feel a lot better).  I repeat in my head that I am loved.  I look in the mirror and say out loud “these legs help me walk”, “these arms let me hug the people I love”.  Saying things and thinking positive thoughts more often allows them to travel faster in your brain due to the strengthing of the nueropathways that these thoughts travel across.
3. Music:  I am sure it is a surprise to no one that music is one of my favorite coping mechanisms.  When my thoughts are going crazy and I feel like I cannot control them in that moment, I take a step back, turn of the lights, lay on my bed, and sing my favorite songs.  It’s amazing.  Big fan. (extra points if I get my lavender essential oils going too)
4. Writing: I am not going to lie, there are a lot of times when I cannot freaking stand to write.  I hate journaling a lot at times.  But I know it helps me, so I have found ways to make me enjoy it more. This usually includes going somewhere I love or listening to music I love while I journal.

For me, my eating disorder centers around the idea of control.  I want to control how I look, how others percieve me, and how I perceive myself.  I know this is not how everyone else experiences their eating disorders.  I know unhealthy relationships with food exist even for those who don’t identify or have not been diagnosed with an eating disorder.  I don’t expect sympathy, but I want to share who I am with others.  Also,  I know a lot of others struggle with similar issues and I have learned that one thing that helps me the most is deeper connections with others.  This is only a fraction of my story, and it does NOT define me.  However, it is a part of me, and part of being able to love myself is being able to love the parts of me that aren’t perfect.

Much love to those who show me endless love, those who have let me open up to them, and those who are struggling with any issue.

Thank you.

 

Additionally, here are some things that really grind my gears in relation to this topic:

1. When people make assumptions about people with eating disorders and the validity of these eating disorders based solely on their physical size.
2. When someone is hungry and says “I’m starving”
3. When people believe that body dysmoprhia is simply not liking the way you look
4. When people see someone who is thin and say “they need to eat a cheeseburger”

Animals are Friends, not Food

For the past year I have been vegetarian.  I started restricting meat from my diet due to hearing about the health benefits of being vegetarian.  I joined the Student Advocates for Vegan/Vegetarianism (SAVV) because I wanted to learn more about not only why I should be vegetarian, but also better tips and tricks to making food while vegetarian that I did not know.

Throughout my year as a member of SAVV my love for being vegetarian has grown immensely.  Every meeting I learn more about why I should not eat meat.  The biggest take away I have learned from this experience is how inefficient meat production is, and how harmful meat production is to the environment.  The amount of chemicals that are pumped into meat to make it taste better and last longer in storage are harmful to the environment, and these chemicals are taking the nutrients that are meant to be “good” for our body away.  Also,  the way animals that are raised for meat production is cruel.

SAVV is an involvement I plan on staying involved in because I am constantly learning more and becoming more passionate about the topic of eating a plant-based diet.  I plan on being vegetarian the rest of my life, and this involvement has encouraged me to pursue being vegan at some point.

 

 

Future Dr. Varney

One of my involvements at CMU is the Pre-Medical and Osteopathic Society (PMOS). PMOS is an organization that helps provide students with the information and knowledge needed to be prepared to enter medical school.  I joined this organization with hopes of being on the right track to get accepted into a medical school.

From this involvement I have learned about the aspects of an applicant that medical schools look for beyond grades, and I have also learned about the skills that will make me a better and more effective medical professional in the future.  PMOS provides it’s members with lots of volunteer and primary care opportunities.  However, what I got most out of this involvement was the interactions with representatives from different medical schools.

Multiple medical schools send representatives that come and present on the school.  Before seeing any of these presentations, I assumed it would talk mostly about what type of applicant they want in terms of GPA, MCAT score, and list of involvements.  I have learned that the biggest thing in terms of medical schools is not the numbers of anything, but instead the values that each medical school holds to a high priority.  For example, I put a high value on leadership and community service, and not every medical school focuses on those two values.

The average medical school applicant applies to 16 medical schools.  40% of those applicants gets accepted into even 1 of those medical schools.  Pre-Med and Osteo Society has helped me feel prepared that I know what I need to do to pursue my dreams of becoming Dr.Varney.

 

 

A New Summer’s Resolution

A lot of people have New Year’s resolutions, but as I move home and reflect about the past year at my freshman year of college, I realize I have learned a lot about myself.  There were parts of the year that were the hardest parts of my life to this point, and there were parts of the year that were the happiest I have ever been.  However, from this point forward I only want things to get better.  I don’t want those hard parts back. So from this summer and every day after, my resolution is to not let the hard parts repeat.

Before coming to college I was extremely happy.  I was one of the people who loved high school; I thrived in high school.  I thought going to college would automatically be the same way, and since I was the top of my class in high school and involved in everything and able to have a friendly conversation with anyone that passed by that I was going to be successful and that everything in life was going to be easy. I realized quickly within my first few days of college that was not true.  Things were not as easy as they were in high school and I became obsessed with the idea that I peaked in high school.  This thought consumed me. I became my over analytical self that over thinks and over interprets every situation to think that I am doing something completely wrong with my life if everything isn’t going absolutely perfect.  I believe that every door that is closed is a door that is closed because I somehow screwed everything up.

This year I quickly learned how bad that mentality is.  Never having to deal with it much in high school, I never realized how harsh I was on myself.  My plans for freshman year were not exactly as I planned, and as things went off track I got more and more angry at myself, and I became obsessed with thinking that something had to be wrong with me if I wasn’t the social butterfly, the best student, and the over-involved person that I had been in the past.  It is then that I began subconsciously degrading myself with every chance I got.  It started out not that bad, but it quickly escalated me to saying “I hate myself” as a quick joke anytime I did something that was not entirely as I planned.  It became a “joke” to me to joke about how I felt ugly, or like I was a mess, or awkward, or stupid, or out of place.   I started pointing out my flaws that way if other people noticed them they would think that it was something I knew about and just lived with it because I thought that would make me look stronger.  I was foolish enough to think that joking about disliking myself would make me look stronger.

However, it wasn’t a joke.  I legitimately began to dislike myself as I person.  I stopped thinking of myself as someone who is smart.  I stopped thinking of myself as someone who could talk and have a meaningful conversation with anyone.  I tried to distance myself away from people because I wanted to seem independent because in the past I was independent without trying to be.  I wanted to look the part that way people would notice, so then I would feel like I actually was who I used to be.

It was hard because I felt so different.  I felt so disconnected from friends at home and friends at school.  I felt like I wasn’t close with anyone because there was something wrong with me.  In reality there is nothing wrong with me except the way I treat myself.  When I am constantly “joking” and degrading myself it takes a toll on me without me fully understanding it at the time.

It is because of all of this and so much more than I could fit into this blog that my new summer’s resolution is to stop punishing myself for not being the same person I was a year ago, and embrace myself for who I am now.

For anyone else who needs some help learning to love them self here is a video that helps 🙂

525,600 minutes; how do you measure a year?

To say the past year has been a whirlwind of emotions is to say the least. Through this year I have experienced so much growth in such a short amount of time.  As I look back over my freshman year at Central, it astounds me that 1 year ago I didn’t even know these people, but now they are my best friends.  So, here is a quick recap of the roller-coaster ride that was freshman year. (Cue the song Closer by the Chainsmokers).

When I packed my car the night before move-in day, it still hadn’t hit me yet.  My family had a bonfire with my grandparents and aunts and uncles to say goodbye, but the night was hitting an end and I still didn’t feel the sadness that I should have been feeling about leaving my home, my small little town, and my family.   I was saying my goodbyes and everything was casual, until it was time to say goodbye to my brother.  My brother is 11 years older than me, and even as little kids we were two tripping peas in one far off pod (lol).  He isn’t a super emotional dude, so I figured it would be a hug and an I love you and that would be that.  When we were hugging though he started to tear up and said “it’s just gonna be weird not seeing you everyday”.  It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how different things were going to be.  That was the first time I got sad about leaving home, and I blame him for me not getting on sleep the night before coming to school because I was so sad and scared that I couldn’t calm down enough to sleep.  The next day I should have been very happy to be moving in to start my year at college, but all I knew is that I was sad, and saying goodbye to family made me even more upset.  I tried to hide it, but through the first week I missed my family so much that I had a hard time enjoying myself.

That when my roomies come in.  S/O to my roommates (+Logan Palm) for putting up with my crazy weird self.  First semester I was all over the place.  I tried to hide it from my fam, but I was not my happiest self.  Thinking back on it I was my own worst enemy.  I loved high school, and coming into college I instantly expected every single friendship and experience to be better high school.  I was constantly comparing things, and I was never fully letting myself enjoy my self.  It was through this time that I made some of my best friends.  Logan Palm (LJP) became my best friend in such a short amount of time.  He helped me when I was sad and was considering maybe Central was the reason I wasn’t happy. But Central wasn’t the problem, it was me.  I learned quickly that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way, and I met my other best friend Kristina Slifco.  Kristina and me quickly became best pals, and it is crazy to me to think that I ever lived my life without her.   Kristina and Logan are the reason that I found my way to be my happiest self at CMU.

As rough as first semester was, I can honestly say that second semester has been the best half a year of my life.  This semester has allowed me to find my comfort here at CMU and learn what I need to do to make my self successful and happy.  This semester brought me the best friends I could have, and I think that has made all the difference.  Kristina and I continued to stay as close as ever (we are literally connected at the hip) (marathon hangouts).  On the real though, this semester I became best pals with Lucas Gustafson, and no person has brought me more chuckles than that kid. Lucas and Kristina are two people that I have the time of my life with even when we are doing nothing.   The three of us are never short on laughs, and when one of us leaves for even 24 hours we instantly all miss each other (we’re annoying I know).

As happy as I am now to be at CMU, I still think a lot about how much I struggled first semester.  I think the hardest part was thinking that no one else felt that way.  After talking to people who were older than me I quickly learned that it is a normal thing.  I think knowing that I felt that way is what makes me so thankful for CMU now.  I know that Central is my home and I could not imagine myself being any happier anywhere else.

You are probably reading this thinking “what the heck, what about her roommates?!?!?!”, but I was just saving that for last.  I got lucky enough to have roomies that were just as goofy as I am.  My roommate Molly is one of my best friends.  I am going to miss her like crazy next year while she is at the Disney College Program.

Some of best mems at CMU:

• Walking all the way to Kroger then to downtown then back to Barnes in the middle of night with Krisp
• Car jam sessions with Lucas and Kristina
• Acquiring the nicknames: Trash, Shleigh, Ash Varn, Trash Varn
• Pulling my first all nighter (feat. Lucas)
• Random dance parties w roomies

I am looking forward to next year and making more memories with the people I love at the school that I love. Fire Up Chips.

 

 

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The Muggle World of Emma Watson

Emma Watson is seen as a beautiful and graceful actress who starred in one of the best film series of all time.  However, she is one of my biggest role models for many more reasons than that.  Here are a few:

1. She pours her life into her passions.                                                                               Emma took the opportunity after finishing Harry Potter to go to college to get an Education because it was something she was passionate about.  She started a campaign about feminism because it is something she was passionate about.  She devotes her life to charities because it is something she is passionate about.  Emma Watson lives her life through what she feels is important to her in the world.
2. She stands up for what she believes in.                                                                                         Emma Watson saw a change she wanted to make, so she launched a campaign to raise awareness for women’s rights around the world.  At such a young age she has made a large impact by making her voice heard and helping others all over the world.  She also has worked with the United Nations to help make her voice heard.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
3. She inspires others.                                                                                                              
   Through her He for She campaign she has   inspired others to learn and educate themselves about the inequalities around the world today.  Through her speaking her mind and standing up for what she believes in, she has inspired (such as me) to do the same.  She inspires by proving that standing up for what you believe in and being passionate is something we should all strive to do.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
4. She preaches and practices self-love.  Emma Watson prides herself on being her own person an loving that is different.  In fact, she wants everyone else to love themselves too.  She focuses her opinion on herself based solely on her own view of herself and not on what others may think.  She lives by the motto that she isn’t giving others or society the control to determine what she thinks of herself. This is a goal that I want to one day achieve and I think it is one of the most admirable traits of Emma Watson.

So, how does this make her an exemplary leader?  Well if it doesn’t go without saying,  Emma Watson has had a positive impact on tons of people, and continues to everyday.  Through her action she is creating more leaders to help make their own voices heard. Since she is an advocate for individuality she is inspiring others who do not necessarily have the same views as her, but is still wanting everyone to let their voice be heard.

How does she impact my life?  One day I hope to have inspired someone as much as Emma Watson as inspired me.  One of her passions, feminism, is something that I feel very passionate about as well, and through her actions and words I have learned a lot about what feminism is and how it can be interpreted to others.  She is a refreshing in terms of feminist role models in the country who are not necessarily political leaders.  The United States has many political leaders who are feminists, and lots of celebrities who claim to be.  However, Emma Watson is celebrity feminist who is practicing what she preaches and making a difference.  She isn’t saying she is a feminist for fame, she is doing it because she is passionate.

Another passion of Emma Watson’s is self-love.  This is something I have become extremely passionate about within the past year and moving to CMU.  I think a large part of being happy, having a healthy lifestyle, and helping others is having a healthy relationship with yourself.  Emma Watson gives great inspiration to others to allow them to love themselves.

I hope to continue my life and develop the leadership qualities that Emma Watson has.  She is a great role model for men, women, and young children.  I hope one day I can become a great role model too.  I can do this by improving on the qualities listed above.

Just because Emma Watson is amazing, here are some more of my fav quotes by her: