Spring into self love: Trojan Outreach Celebrates Body Positivity

( Photo / Sparsh Shakya )Trojan Outreach invites students to write positive messages on a displayin TC.Oluwaseun OmatayoStaff Writer Trojan Outreach celebrated body positivity during the second week of January 2021. The event, which is a first of its kind, was called “Spring into Self Love.” The aim of the event was to encourage students to love their bodies and themselves the way they are. The body positivity movement was initially created to celebrate all bodies while challenging society’s physical body norms. The organization held a couple of activities during the week to reach out to students around the Troy campus while maintaining COVID-19 guidelines. According to Morgan Williams, Graduate Assistant for Trojan Outreach from Mobile, Alabama, the organization wanted to bring awareness to an issue many college students face. “College students often face the risk of developing body dysmorphia because of the challenges of trying to conform to unrealistic body standards, and our goal with this event is to tackle this issue,” Williams said. “We want to bring awareness to the idea that your body is your own. It is unique, so do not focus on your perceived flaws about you or your body.” The organization’s members went around campus on Jan 12,asking students to participate in a video recording. “Students were asked to describe themselves using sentences that started with ‘I am,’” Williams said. “We had the opportunity to interview 20 students, and the video should be released before the end of the month with a QR code on our display board at the Trojan Center (TC).” Students can find the Trojan Outreach display board opposite the Post Office at the Trojan Center. The event also included a session where students had the chance to stop by the Trojan Outreach table in the TC where they could write the things they loved about themselves on paper flowers. At the end of the event, the organization collected 200 flowers and had 115 students visit the table. The flowers are currently placed on the organization’s display board in the Trojan Center. Trojan Outreach will continue to celebrate body positivity throughout the month of January.