growing strong

By Hanna D

Many girls care a lot for their body image and how they look because of stereotypes that girls need to look pretty, that’s all they need to do. For Carina Rodriguez, a 17-year old senior in high school, has been through getting body shamed. Now, she understands how to face these insecurities and has grown into a confident woman who needs nobody to wait for.

One of the many ways she has gotten past her insecurities is: her boyfriend. They have been dating for a year and are as strong as ever. Even now, they are doing their best to support each other through hard times.

A sickening experience Rodriguez had to go through was losing three of her loved ones so she fell into despair. However her boyfriend helped her become who she is again, “I completely lost myself and was falling very behind in distance learning and he helped me find myself and do assignments.”

“I feel like it was because I met him when I was at my lowest and like he really helped me bring myself up,” Rodriguez said. He was like a safe place for her to vent about all her problems too.

Rodriguez and her boyfriend have been together for a year. They had both met in Rodriguez's sophomore year in history class. They have been talking for 6 months and started dating in January of 2020.

Rodriguez got very close to him and felt that she could tell him all her problems. “Cause like with him it’s like I know stuff and he doesn’t know stuff so it’s like I’m teaching him and he’s teaching me,” she stated.

Throughout the years, Rodriguez had discovered a passion of hers: art. She draws by making a weird shape then turning it into something beautiful. This passion started when she was in fourth grade.

“So if it was a squiggly line I like to try to make it into a rose,” Rodriguez said. Trying to turn something “ugly” into something beautiful is showing self-growth.

While trying to find inspiration for her art, an Instagram artist, which Rodriguez follows on Instagram, had been making a type of art called calligraphy.

This Instagram artist has made a business of her own in which she creates custom things. “For example she would write your name in like a style called calligraphy and like I got inspired by that,” Rodriguez stated.

Another type of art Rodruguez adores is graffiti, in other words, wall art. “I think it’s because you can do anything and it looks cool,” Rodriguez said.

Even through her hardships, Rodriguez has found something to find peace in. Now all she needs to do is continue forward.