Corina Carmona, 20, who majors in Nursing says true beauty is “a person who is confident and sure of themselves. Someone who knows their value.”

Carmona is a youth mentor at her church and says she often gives self-esteem pep talks to the women at her church.

“So many women deal with this issue. It breaks my heart to see someone who doesn’t see themselves the way God does.” Carmona says she has also dealt with this issue. “One of the exercises I have the women at my church do is to actually have them look in the mirror and tell themselves that they’re beautiful. I know its corny … one of those things you only see in movies, but it works! Words are a powerful tool.” Carmona, sees herself continuing to teach the young women at her church to be confident.

“Accepting yourself the way you are, forget what everybody else thinks. No one is perfect … you may think someone else is beautiful, but I bet you that that person also has insecurities…” says Ashely Rivera, 20 who studies Respiratory. Rivera admits she has also had self-esteem issues at one point of her life, “Every girl goes through it — it’s part of life, you know.” Rivera says she has learned to ignore other people’s negative comments on her appearance.

“People will always have something to say about you, but you gotta keep it moving. I’ve learned to not let people rain on my parade.”

Eddie Hoar, who studies journalism and communication at NECC believes true beauty is far beyond the physical.

“It’s not superficial. It’s about how you carry yourself, how you present yourself to other people.” Hoar believes the media has put too much emphasis on physical appearance. “Outer beauty should matter little or not at all. A lot of that is genetic. Either you’re lucky or you’re not. Inner beauty is always going to be with you, you know. Is Gisele (Bündchen) going to look beautiful forever? No.”