“I mean, who doesn’t want to win 2,000 dollars?” fFreshman Jess Kagan saidenthusiastically tells her thoughts about the Walgreen’s Expressions Challenge.

The contest is directed towards teens who can enter their work in multimedia, visual arts, or creative writing. “I’ve always loved poetry,” Kagan said expresses.

“I took two months to write this poem,” she saidadmits, “I was hesitant to enter at first.”

Kagan wrote her poetry about sa very controversial topic in our society. Self-esteem.

A study done by Jennifer Crocker, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. For the study, Crocker surveyed more than 600 college freshmen three times during the year–before they left for college and at the end of the fall and spring semesters. When students were asked about what they base their self-worth on, more than 65 percent 70 percent of which were women, said their appearance.

These self-esteem issues are developed through our middle school and high school years, and even early as elementary. The media, friends, family define what our self esteem should be worth.

In Kagan’s perspective, she Kagan wrote her poem about how we, ourselves, are the greatest influence. ”I took it from my perspective. Girls look into the mirror and don’t always like what they see,” she said.. “Just a little thought of I’m ugly or I’m fat has ended lives of many young teens.”

“I wanted to write about how to overcome this beast we see in the mirror, the monster that is always with you telling you that you’re ugly, you’re not worth anything”.

Kagan shares her beliefs about how self-esteem issues begin. “People aren’t just accepted for who they are, whether it’s their race, their appearance, society separates itself into categories”.

“We only look at the shinier people in life and think why can’t we be like them?”

“I’ve struggled with self-esteem in the past, all the way through middle school and sometimes elementary school,” Kagan said. “Probably the first time I dealt with self-esteem was when I wanted to look like my parents”.

“I’ve always looked different from my mom and dad”, she starts off. “I didn’t know I was adopted until I turned around six years old,” Kagan and her younger brother were adopted from Guatemala at a very young age.

“I have three brothers and three sisters,” Kagan comes from a family of seven kids who are currently split. “I get to see them every other year so it’s nice,” she smiles at the thought of her siblings.

“In Clayton, when my parents, my brother and I walk down the street, people gives us weird looks,” she takes notice of the glances. “I mean I understand. Two white parents raising two brown kids..?” Kagan jokes. “I asked my mother once if she gave birth to me,” she continues, “She didn’t know what to say at first but she told me, ‘You grew in my heart’,” Kagan grins widely.

Kagan expresses appreciation for her parents. “My parents helped me submit my poem and helped me a lot,” she talks more about the opportunities that were opened to her.