Self-love to me is being able to accept my mistakes and my flaws even when it is hardest to. I believe that acceptance is the initial step in learning to love yourself. And as legend RuPaul always says, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you going to love somebody else?” That message especially resonates with me. – Grant, age 17
I can’t really define self-love; I think it’s more of a feeling. I think about it a lot like when I practice yoga. If I’m off balance during a pose in yoga, I teeter, totter, and I ultimately fall out of my pose. However, when I’m perfectly balanced I feel a state of calm as if I am where I need to be, and I don’t feel anxious or stressed about anything else. That’s what I think self-love is: it’s a state of balance. If you don’t judge yourself and you except where you are and who you are, you are in a state of balance. – Brynn, age 17
I can’t really define self-love; I think it’s more of a feeling. I think about it a lot like when I practice yoga. If I’m off balance during a pose in yoga, I teeter, totter, and I ultimately fall out of my pose. However, when I’m perfectly balanced I feel a state of calm as if I am where I need to be, and I don’t feel anxious or stressed about anything else. That’s what I think self-love is: it’s a state of balance. If you don’t judge yourself and you except where you are and who you are, you are in a state of balance. – Brynn, age 17
Self-love means taking the time to appreciate one’s body and mind. Taking the time to look back on the day or week and be proud or thankful or anything about what you have done or just be proud you got through the week. I think self-love is about learning to recognize the beauty in yourself whether that may be prideful of yourself for succeeding or able to just breathe through failure. All of it, it’s self-love. – Jane, age 17
Self-love means accepting yourself for who you are. You were born to be unique and different from others, it is best to embrace that and love yourself for that. – Katie, age 16
Self-love means reminding myself that sometimes, it’s okay to stay at home and eat tacos. – Isabella, age 18
For me, self-love is about putting your mental health / well-being as a top priority. Self-love is striving to feel comfortable and content with who you are as a person inside and out. – Anna, age 18
Self-love to me means someone who loves themselves for who they are and doesn’t change to fit in with the crowd. They’re not afraid to show themselves and be free. It also means that they’re comfortable with themselves. – Tye, age 16
Self-love is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it is something you have to practice every day. It is realizing your opinion is just as valid as those around you. It is acknowledging your successes and forgiving your failures. Personally, I forget to love myself quite often. I don’t know if it’s possible to love yourself 100% of the time, but as life has gone on I continue to find more of what makes me happy. I’m definitely loving myself more than ever before. – Nathan, age 18
Self-love means having confidence, accepting yourself for who you are, taking care of yourself mentally and emotionally, as well as having a positive attitude! – Yasra, age 17
To me, self-love is waking up every day, looking in the mirror and saying 10 good things about yourself. Self-love is taking time out of my day to think and reflect about me and make sure that I am in the right mind frame. Self-love is building up my self-esteem so that I can always have it with me. Self-love is a commitment that I have to myself, that sometimes I struggle to keep. However, self-love is crucial in order for me to live my life to the fullest. – Owen, age 15
Self-love is accepting all the good, bad and ugly of ourselves; thus, loving yourself emotionally and physically. it’s knowing that I’m a complex being, and my needs evolve on a daily basis. but I really think it’s being unapologetic while doing the things that make me happy. – Isaac, age 16
Self-love to me means loving yourself the same way you would love someone else. It’s an invested relationship that continually grows daily by finding happiness from within. – Aliya, age 16
To me, self-love means that one is striving to accept all parts of oneself, including one’s flaws. I think once we are able to embrace our differences we can actually learn to build ourselves up on our own by owning our imperfections. – Bianca, age 16
Self-love to me means prioritizing myself and making sure I am emotionally and physically well. I make sure I am doing stuff that make me happy and surrounding myself with people who bring the best out of me. – Andrea, age 16
To me, self-love is doing something for you, even if its sole purpose isn’t college-apps related. It’s letting yourself take a nap instead of doing your third practice ACT science section of the day. It’s going out with friends on a week night because you had a rough week. It’s allowing yourself to choose you. – Chelsea, age 17
Self-love is self-respect. It’s knowing what makes you comfortable and doing things that bring you joy, while not compromising your own integrity. When we don’t stay true to ourselves, that’s when we lack self-love. – Elton, age 16
I think that in today’s society, it’s so easy to look around you and see teens your age accomplishing things that you feel are so much more than you could ever do. But, I think that self-love is realizing that you are enough in everything you do. No matter what we do, we are enough, and it’s okay to step back every once in a while, and take time for ourselves. – Eva, age 17
To me, self-love means taking that extra second to do something where the sole purpose is to make yourself feel more comfortable, calm, or just happy. It means remembering that it’s okay, and oftentimes even necessary, to put yourself and your health first. – Sarah, age 16
To me, self-love is all about taking time to do something that you are really passionate about. Whether that’s listening to music, playing video games, or even taking a long, hot bath, taking a little time away from the less enjoyable parts of life to have some personal entertainment is a crucial aspect of taking care of yourself. – Hayden, age 17