How College Has Affected My Body Image
1. I don't look in the mirror as often
I have two mirror options: the full length mirror in the openness of our dorm room, or the torso-up mirror in the openness of the bathroom. Because both of these mirrors are relatively in the public, I don't spend a ton of time standing in front of them scrutinizing myself just because if someone came in and saw me, I'd look crazy.
I have gone to the dining hall in basically my pajamas. I went to Orchestra practice in jeans and a t-shirt. I have to wear a not-so-flattering outfit for work. I dress nicely for class and for church, but even then, I try to make sure I'm comfortable. When you have to walk everywhere on campus, looking pristinely cute all the time is just too much work. Today I'm wearing a sweater, a scarf, jeans and moccasins. And I feel great and think I look cute. Which is all that matters. A weird thing happens when your school and your home are one in the same: you have to live with the people you go to school with, you see each other all the time. The idea of dressing to impress kind of goes out the window, because it's just not practical. Do you dress up nicely just to hang out around your house? Of course not! Well, at college, all of campus is basically your house. I'm not saying I dress like a slob, not at all. I still love putting together outfits and being fashionable. I'm just saying that when I feel like going to get food at the Union and I've been chilling in the dorm in athletic sweat pants and a t-shirt (aka, what I'm planning to wear to bed) I'm not going to change out of it. I'm just gonna go in my lazy clothes. And letting go of the idea that I have to look great all the time is really nice.
I have two mirror options: the full length mirror in the openness of our dorm room, or the torso-up mirror in the openness of the bathroom. Because both of these mirrors are relatively in the public, I don't spend a ton of time standing in front of them scrutinizing myself just because if someone came in and saw me, I'd look crazy.
Having less mirrors and less time in front of those mirrors also makes me realize how, as weird as it sounds, when you're in your bathroom at home, you're kind of forced to look at yourself and your body all the time. But now that I don't have that privacy, I just don't look at myself. I don't have to watch myself get out of the shower and get changed because all of that happens in a cramped little curtained off area with no mirrors. And honestly, it's really nice! Not seeing my body means I'm not thinking about my body all the time either, which is relieving. I've never hated my body by any means, but it is nice not to have to look at it all the time and FIND things to dislike it. I don't know if any of that made sense. But I guess my overall point is I don't look in mirrors as much, and it's oddly freeing.
2. I don't dress to impress, except for myself.
I have gone to the dining hall in basically my pajamas. I went to Orchestra practice in jeans and a t-shirt. I have to wear a not-so-flattering outfit for work. I dress nicely for class and for church, but even then, I try to make sure I'm comfortable. When you have to walk everywhere on campus, looking pristinely cute all the time is just too much work. Today I'm wearing a sweater, a scarf, jeans and moccasins. And I feel great and think I look cute. Which is all that matters. A weird thing happens when your school and your home are one in the same: you have to live with the people you go to school with, you see each other all the time. The idea of dressing to impress kind of goes out the window, because it's just not practical. Do you dress up nicely just to hang out around your house? Of course not! Well, at college, all of campus is basically your house. I'm not saying I dress like a slob, not at all. I still love putting together outfits and being fashionable. I'm just saying that when I feel like going to get food at the Union and I've been chilling in the dorm in athletic sweat pants and a t-shirt (aka, what I'm planning to wear to bed) I'm not going to change out of it. I'm just gonna go in my lazy clothes. And letting go of the idea that I have to look great all the time is really nice.
3. I don't think about how I look as much
Everyone here is beautiful. Honestly, it's so weird. Such a change from Hagerstown, the #2 Ugliest Men City in America. But at the same time, it's like, nobody is judging anyone. Nobody cares. There aren't a ton of girls who are always wearing make-up (though the ones that do look great and are awesome), there aren't a ton of girls who wear dresses or skirts all the time in order to look cute. College is sort of a get up and go thing. There's way less of a mentality of trying hard to be beautiful as there was in high school. So I don't really care if my hair is frizzy (like today) or if I'm breaking out (like last week). Or even when I do care about those things, I remind myself that I'm literally the only one. There's so many people here, no one is going to notice my pimple and be scarred for life.
Overall, college has had a positive impact on my self image. That's not to say that it was ever bad. I made a choice a long time ago not to hate something that was created in the image of God. But I guess since coming here, I've felt even more of a freedom to stop thinking about my body so much in general. And that's a good thing.
-VaughnDL
Overall, college has had a positive impact on my self image. That's not to say that it was ever bad. I made a choice a long time ago not to hate something that was created in the image of God. But I guess since coming here, I've felt even more of a freedom to stop thinking about my body so much in general. And that's a good thing.
-VaughnDL
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