I have just begun my journey back to fitness very recently and it's caused me to think back about my time last year, working out with my friends as freshmen. I wasn't in love with my body and wanted to do what I could to look as good as I wanted to feel. In the end, I became lazy and stopped going once classes got too hard, but I've decided this time around I'm going to be dedicated for a reason other than looking good.

Granted, looking good is a really nice goal to look forward to, but that's not the real reason I am going to the gym. When I go and feel the weights in my hands and smell the metal, I feel empowered. Those drops of sweat flowing down my back are a mark of a new strength I am finding in myself. I can't lift a lot right now, but everyone starts somewhere. I am rediscovering myself through my tenacity to challenge myself in the gym. Why not try for ten pounds instead of five for curls or twenty instead of fifteen for shrugs?

Self-empowerment is the key to success.

Whether it is at the gym or running for a position in Greek Life, you have to know your self-worth before anyone else can truly know the real you. How hard you push yourself in the gym equally reflects how much you are willing to push yourself to advocate for what is right, or for that coveted job or relationship you care for that is in shambles.

When you go to the gym, it should be something more than looks, and in the end, it will mean far more than that. Self-appreciation and self-love come out of hard work, and the gym has taught me that unless I trust in myself, I cannot function lifting or in life in general.

I hope that when you go to the gym, the idea of you looking good in a bikini isn't your driving factor, but feeling good in that bikini instead.