February 20, 2019Academics, Campus Life, College Life, College Living, Featured, Features, Healthy Living, Lifestyle, People, Student Lifestyle, Uncategorized A Day in the Life: Medical Student Edition More
February 14, 2019CMU Alumni, Featured, Features, Features, Lifestyle, Relationships, Spotlight Communication Professors Find Love at CMU
February 6, 2019Features, Student Lifestyle, Students Graduate student brings unique background to Men’s Basketball Team
February 4, 2019Arts & Entertainment, Events, Pop Culture, Students Lead a second life with Mount Pleasant By Night
February 13, 2019Beauty, Campus Fashion, Student Styles, Style, Style & Beauty, Trend and Beauty, Women's Style Posh, Practical: Dressing Cute, Comfortable for Class More
February 12, 2019Beauty, Style & Beauty, Trend and Beauty, Women's Style CMU Students Show Their Favorite V-Day Makeup Looks
February 11, 2019Campus Fashion, Student Styles, Style, Uncategorized Student Style Spotlight: Anastasia Bjork
February 20, 2019Academics, Campus Life, College Life, College Living, Featured, Features, Healthy Living, Lifestyle, People, Student Lifestyle, Uncategorized A Day in the Life: Medical Student Edition More
December 9, 2018Athletics, Events, Photo Gallery, Sports, Student Lifestyle, Students Saturday Men’s Basketball: Last Game of the Semester
February 13, 2019Arts & Entertainment, Events, Movies, Movies, Pop Culture Film Society Brings Oscar-Nominated Films to Mt. Pleasant More
February 4, 2019Arts & Entertainment, Events, Pop Culture, Students Lead a second life with Mount Pleasant By Night
February 14, 2019CMU Alumni, Featured, Features, Features, Lifestyle, Relationships, Spotlight Communication Professors Find Love at CMU More
February 15, 2018Relationships, Student Lifestyle, Students, Students Look Out for True Love, Not Abusive Love
February 13, 2018Campus Life, College Living, Community, Lifestyle, Relationships, Student Lifestyle, Students, Students An Inside Look at Some CMU Friendships
November 9, 2018Archives, Arts & Entertainment, Community, Food & Beverage, Seasonal Issues, Style, Style & Beauty Check out the Spring Issue 2018 More
May 3, 2016 Advice, Opinion, Opinion & Advice How One Editor Rose Above Negative Body Image Story by Colleen Dluzynski Feature Photo via GraphicBurger.com For Grand Central’s spring style initiative, I was 1 of 7 girls to participate in a photo shoot around the city featuring our own unique and personal styles. With a love for all things black and red, and as a female with fringe bangs, I was picked to represent the category “edgy.” (I suppose it does fit, I’ve just never really thought about a name for my style preferences before). So, I threw on a red lip, grabbed a cup of coffee, and our Photo Editor, Annie, and I hit the downtown area on a very mild and pleasant spring day to take some pictures in an alleyway. (Hardcore!) Taking photos with Annie is always a blast. She’s one of my closest friends, we joke around, and she is wickedly talented at what she does. This sort of setting is actually what originally brought us together – she needed help on a photography project, I offered to assist her, and the next time we hung out, we bonded over beer and french fries as a skeleton and pirate on Halloween. (And have been close-knit ever since). When we got back to her apartment, Annie showed me the photos she had taken. Her high quality camera and masterful, artistic skills made them look awesome! And, I was pleased with my ability to not look super awkward or stiff, seeing as they were going to be published. But as I scrolled through the photos, I managed to look past the photo for exactly what it was, and give it this mirror effect – I was focused on my weight. Yeah, I’ll say it. I sometimes doubt myself and get down about myself and compare myself to others – I’m human. There was a time not too long ago, that the thoughts that circulated in my head when I looked in the mirror played tricks on me, were extremely harsh and messed with my mentality and emotions. It was a weird feeling for me because I have pretty much always felt comfortable in my own skin. I’ve played sports all my life, and upon coming to college, stayed active, as working out has always been a priority and something I enjoy. But like a lot of things within the roller coaster years of late high school and early college, areas in my life that I had once thought of as secure began to waver within the many new and changing environments of the past few years. When I had doubts about my relationships, career path, involvements and future was when it seemed the focus on my weight was prevalent. When I was facing new stresses of growing up and becoming an adult living on my own, I focused on making sure I was only putting really healthy foods in my body if I couldn’t work out on a certain day. And if I couldn’t work out, it threw my whole day off kilter. It was unhealthy. I wasn’t enjoying myself fully and by stressing out over everything I consumed and every minute spent at the gym, I realized I was actually being counter productive. I realized that things weren’t going to slow down from here on out, so I needed to learn balance. And, I learned how much of a negative influence the comparisons to unrealistic standards of beauty I was holding myself to had. Even if it was subconsciously, seeing beautifully-taken photos of models obviously had me looking in the photos like a mirror and expecting to see something that was not there. But, I have been making valiant efforts to look in the mirror each day and look at photos of myself and say “Damn! Look at that smile! Look at those hips! Look at her – she is happy and healthy!” I never want to look back on this amazing time in my life and think that all I focused on was how I looked. Perfection is unattainable and undesirable – everything we are made of makes us who we are – beautifully and individually unique. I know, we all have insecurities. We all have things we wish were different, and that’s normal. But, it is an amazing feeling when you go on living life to the fullest anyways, fully embracing and loving yourself. I know I do.