Shayla, Sheina, and Genesis | St. Martin de Porres High School
How do the media outlets or inner conflicts affect the way we view our bodies? Genesis said, “For the longest time, I thought, ‘This is how I need to be’ while comparing my body to my aunts and cousins who have slimmer bodies than mine. But then I think, ‘I kindof like the things I like and do the things I like to do because it’s what makes me happy.” Sheina said, “We get caught up in the illusion, especially in high school, with the outer and the inner parts of ourselves. If you’re going to change, do it for your own happiness.” So star-struck by her wisdom, I replied, “I want to be more than what people see of me, physically…” to which Sheina lent me her voice with, “Or what I was made to be.” Lifting our conversation higher, Shayla added, “I feel like our expectation of ourselves means more than the expectation of others. We want to demand from ourselves instead of demanding from others. We need to define ourselves for ourselves, or others will try to define us for us.” [Grace Scarpello, #IFTJ16 Media Intern-Humans of the Teach-In]
