Audrey K.
Photography by Katie Fox
If you’re reading this, you are a huge success.
“You are a huge success!!”
This was a text message I received from my mom a few months ago. At a very low point at the beginning of the semester, my mind was producing a repeating pattern of negative self-talk. When I wasn’t feeling confident, those five words breathed new life into my belief in myself. The simplest positive affirmation from someone I loved changed the course of my day.
Self-confidence and self-love have been quite the journey for me, especially throughout my high school years and the beginning of college. In high school, I struggled with finding my place– ultimately because I was shy and I cared way too much about what others thought of me. All of the friends I had made already had “better” friends that they retained from elementary and middle school, and I always felt like a second-tier option. Then, when the pandemic began, these shallow friendships gave way to being acquaintances. The “friends” disappeared. They didn’t fulfill my soul.
I cried too much about this… Was I supposed to wait until college to discover my best friends? Then I realized that the underlying issue was that I myself was not going out of my way to maintain these relationships. It didn’t come from others not liking me, it came from a place of feeling a lack of self-love. A lack of positive affirmations. A lack of doing what I was passionate about. I couldn’t pour from an empty cup.
That’s when I made a change. I needed to start taking care of myself because ultimately, I wasn’t happy being alone with my thoughts. I began leaning into my love for sports, including cross country and martial arts, building a life for myself that I was proud of. I spent every day at the martial arts studio, and ultimately I achieved one of my greatest life accomplishments: a black belt from Charlotte Martial Arts Academy.
This past summer, I continued stepping out of my comfort zone, because everything that scared me ended up establishing more faith in myself. I made the decision to become a camp counselor up in Maine, going in completely blind. I ended up making the best friends from all over the world. I was validated as an artist and as a leader. I felt that sense of self-love filling up even more.
Doing things that filled me up, not for outside validation, but to strengthen my self-love and self-confidence changed the trajectory of my outlook on life. By doing things that you love, you end up making the most amazing memories and forgetting to worry about how others perceive you. You are a huge success!! Yes, you. Tell yourself that. Look in the mirror and affirm it. When you believe in yourself when you do things that scare you… well, you make an outstanding impact on not only your mental health but on the way you impact others around you. You were, you are, and you will always be a huge success.
Audrey K., Wake Forest
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