Surprisingly, things like self-love, self-worth and self-care seem selfish to some people. When in fact, self-love is the purest thing one can do for themselves. With real self-love, ANYONE can be their own favorite person.

Megan Schweitzer, a freshman at Pitman High School answered the question: What is self-love to you? with, “It’s about taking care of yourself and treating yourself well.”

While Jocelyn Williams, a senior at PHS answered the question a little differently. “[Self-love] is to love yourself [despite the] circumstance. Like, if you were to change yourself, it should [purely] be out of self-love and nothing else. Even simple things count as self-love; brushing your teeth, washing your face etc.” Later she said, “In one word, self-love is confidence.”

Please note that self-love doesn’t have to be about girls only, it’s for everyone no matter how they identify. It’s another thing that society has made it challenging for boys to show self-love. Freshman Vien Santiago was asked the same question. Here’s what he had to say: “Self-love is being proud of the things you have accomplished. It’s simply being able to do your best.”

When it comes to self-love, there is no wrong answer; the perfect definition exists only for one person and that is YOU.

All three students- Williams, Santiago, and Schweitzer, were asked the same question: Have you accomplished self-love? If so, what helped you get there?

Schweitzer said, “Yes. What helped me get there is just being honest with myself. And I guess knowing how much to take on at a time.”

Williams answered with, “I’m getting there but I don’t think anyone can REALLY perfect it.” To the second part, she had to say, “Having people that encourage me, obtaining a strong mindset, and not having negative self-talks helped me tremendously. I also read books and listen to some good music” she added.

Santiago’s response was, “Yes. It helped when I took care of myself, and maintained a growth mindset about everything.”

Schweitzer believes that loving yourself is of great significance. So, Williams and Santiago were asked the following question: Why do you think self-love is crucial among our teens today? While both their responses shared similarities, they were entirely distinctive.

Santiago simply replied with, “It’s all because of social media. And therefore, we HAVE to keep strong identities and not lose ourselves.” He is absolutely right! We all know people’s self-love, self-care, and self-worth have drowned in the depths of social media. Solely because they can’t see past the judgmental glances that block their chance at a contented life.

On the other hand, Williams led with, “It’s important because teens are at the age where comparing yourself to other people is inevitable. And social media is fuel to that fire.” She finished by simply stating that, “[Social media] is a false reality.”

My personal opinion on this topic remains this: Self-love can only come from within YOU. It cannot be shoved down your throat through an article. Not by books, or even songs. Begin with embracing your mistakes; allow yourself to learn from them. Loving yourself doesn’t mean you’re selfish, it means you have the prowess to take care of yourself and see the good in you, even when everyone is pointing out the bad.