By KYLE FERLITA
Self-love is becoming an increasingly popular theme this time of year as Valentine’s Day approaches.
In the words of Rupaul, “If you can’t love yourself, how are you going to love somebody else?” Self-love takes on many forms, from treating oneself to a good coffee and a doughnut, to taking a yoga class to love oneself on a mental level.
Paul Hewitt, author of Perfectionism: A Relational Approach to Conceptualization, Assessment, and Treatment, says that the inner critic can be like “a nasty adult beating the crap out of a small child.” This book, among the several thousand others published on self-love, help one to love their strengths and their faults.
Spread a little love today
Within the Residence Life community at Ramapo College, resident assistants are helping to help spread self-love around via special events.
Resident Assistant Sebastian Ugarte, a senior at Ramapo, is hosting an event dedicated to self-love with tips on how treat oneself better. The event includes a take-one, leave-one so that people can share their self-love tips, such as taking time for oneself to relax, study tips, or ways to treat oneself with other residents at the event.
“Self-love is important because you have to live with yourself every day, and you don’t realize how detrimental you can be to yourself sometimes,” Ugarte said.
Self-love can take the many forms and for Resident Assistant Erin McCool, she chooses to love herself through physical and mental fitness. “I go to the gym a bunch, and I’m even taking a yoga class as part of my classes this semester. This way I have a commitment to focusing on myself, instead of just my academics,” she said.
Fitness classes at Ramapo College can fit into a student’s schedule, and include a variety of different activities from yoga, to spin classes, and even Zumba.
Resident Assistant Anna Scarpis is also helping to spread self-love with milk and cookies, happening this week. “Sometimes you need to treat yourself. Life gets stressful, especially this time of year, so it’s important to love yourself, and remind yourself that you deserve to be rewarded,” Scarpis said.
If one does find themselves longing for someone this Valentine’s Day, just remember that according to the last US census there are 105 million people that identified as single. In the words of Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”
Overall, I thought your story was strong. You were able to get some great quotes from res life staff on campus. On top of that the topic itself is fitting and the stats were well-rounded. I learned that in the US alone there are approximately 105 million single people, interesting stat.