If you’re someone like me, then you made a LOT of midnight ice cream runs this year. You loved mac and cheese - and ate it often. You appreciated the customizable soda fountain in every dining hall on campus. If you were stressed, you turned on Netflix and snuggled up with your favorite snack for an unreasonably long period of time. Get my point?

As my freshman year went along, I noticed that I was gaining weight. Initially, I didn’t think too much of it. My weight has always fluctuated. No big deal, right? Then the weight gain continued. Again, it didn’t alarm me, but it did heighten my awareness of it. I started to write memos to myself, reminding myself to go to the gym more. I took the stairs whenever I could. I ate salads...a lot of salads. I tried to drink more water. However, by the time the semester ended, I was 14 pounds heavier now than what was indicated on my permit, which I had updated right before the semester had started.

Alas, the rumored ‘Freshman 15’ was true...and I didn’t take it seriously.

So...now what? You might be thinking - ‘okay, now she’s going to list out some helpful ways she intends to lose it!’. Actually, that’s not the case.

I don’t intend to shed it. I intend to embrace it. And, if you are in the same boat, I encourage you to embrace it as well.

You only get one body to love, and nobody gets the stereotypical ‘perfect body’ to love. Even the supermodels, who are airbrushed beyond belief on magazine articles, have their imperfections. My point is, you can’t look to other bodies to define the lovable qualities of your own-- that’s something you have to do yourself. You have to look in the mirror and love yourself.

That’s not an easy process, especially considering that most mainstream media is explicitly targeted to make you feel ‘flawed’ or ‘imperfect’. However, it’s not about trying to perfect imperfections that makes you able to love yourself; it’s about accepting them.

It’s about realizing that these ‘imperfections’ are what make you unique. Maybe you have an outie. Maybe you have a few more pounds than average. Maybe your hair isn’t the trendiest color, or you’re shorter than average, or your breasts are smaller than average. All of these kinds of traits are unique to each person, and the uniqueness in them is what makes us all truly beautiful. Loving yourself is about realizing that you are YOU-- nobody else. You are the only person with your body, and you are the only person who can truly love and cherish it the way it deserves to be.

On the flip side, these pounds are definitely lessons learned. There is definitely such a thing as over-eating. You can still gain a large amount of weight, no matter how fast you think your metabolism is. I fully intend to change some of my habits going into the next school year, but only for the sake of staying healthy. I will be content with my weight and body image at the end of the day knowing that I am uniquely me and I am taking the steps needed to love myself the way I deserve to be.