You Are Beautiful!!!

I teach at the most diverse high school in my whole school district. On a daily basis I am touched with the kindness that I witness in interactions and friendships I see amongst people of all backgrounds. I hear my students freely speak about their dreams, fears, and thoughts about this world as they work on their projects.

But sometimes, and too often the conversation revolve around things they don't like in how they look. And I'm shocked by how many times I have overheard students say that they wish their skin was lighter. I know that it's typical for people as they grow up to want to look like those people that they admire. I remember when I was in high school perming my hair a couple of times a year - it would come off in inch pieces with the damage. I always wished that I had bigger lips, a smaller nose, dimples, and wanted so much to be slimmer. So how can we combat those feelings?

In The book, "The Secret," there is a woman that says that some of her heroes or sheros when she was growing up were Wonder Woman, and the Bionic Woman. She said that with her full lips, curvy hips, and curly hair, she didn't look like them. She didn’t like the way she looked and she kept looking for other people to make her feel beautiful. 

Eventually she learned that she needed to love the way she looked first. Then other people would see her beauty. So, how could I help my students see and accept their beauty?

I looked on the internet and found people of every background that are beautiful. Yes, there are more people with dark skin on my door. That reflects the people in my classroom. And what I see is that people with lighter skin are far more likely to be seen in the public eye. Using the woman in “The Secret” as inspiration, I felt that it might help if my students see more people that “look like them” that are beautiful.

I put the photos up and then played the audio of “The Secret” where the woman spoke of finally accepting her own beauty and how others then saw the beauty within her. 

My follow up project to this is my “Perseverance Leads to Success” Wall that I’ll post next for you. It shows photos with write-ups on people who have overcome circumstances through their intelligence, and effort to become successful. This wall features mostly people of Latin and African ancestry because I want my students to have a daily reminder of people who are highly successful and are making a positive difference in the world that “look like them” because that seems to be important to them. My students are my children and color doesn’t matter to me. But in over hearing my students’ conversations, color does matter to them. Hopefully, it will remind them that they can be successful, accepted, and respected. The more that we are thankful for everything that we have, the more that we see the possibilities and beauty that can be in store for our lives.