Some female residence halls on campus are taking a new spin on Body Image Awareness Month.

Students in these residence halls can participate in challenges, motivational activities and workout options. Whenever they complete an activity on the month-long calendar, they can enter their names into a drawing for gift cards to local businesses.

Casey Speaker, a graduate assistant in the Wellness Center, said she thinks the program’s message is a positive one, especially at this university.

“I think there’s a lot of pressure on St. Thomas students to act a certain way and look a certain way,” Speaker said.

Sophomore Lauren McMahon said Body Image Awareness Week is a good idea because it’s important to start making healthy habits at a young age.

“It’s something that everybody should probably take concern to, and I think it’s important to lead a healthy lifestyle,” McMahon said.

Freshman Loic Attikossie said it’s a great way for people to disperse any feelings of self-consciousness.

“To be aware of what they look like, but not feel bad about themselves and to try to be healthy, and just feel comfortable in your own skin. That’s what’s most important,” Attikossie said.

To kick off the “Body Image Awareness Month,” JPII residents participated in “no makeup Monday.” Freshman JPII resident Jamie Worlobah said she participated in Monday’s festivites and pis planning on taking part in the rest month’s activities.

“Just treating myself well and taking care of myself and things that you don’t think about when you’re so busy and school (like) eating healthy and exercising…I think it’s really helpful,” Worlobah said.

Freshman JPII resident Tori Conners thinks that body image awareness is “a necessary thing that we should do,” but something that can be hard when considering media influence.

“We all strive to make ourselves better, (but) with the media now, we’re not striving to make our internal better–we’re striving to make our external better,” Conners said. “I don’t think that’s right.”

People expect themselves to look like the “perfect bodies” in magazines, senior Jess Kingston said.

“I think that’s a huge influence on people our age because we care so much about what our peers are thinking when really we shouldn’t, but we can’t help it,” Kingston said.

McMahon doesn’t think people understand distorted images the media produces and said people should aspire to work on themselves first before they try to become someone else.

“You have to become comfortable with yourself and build that confidence on your own without having to feel like you need the expensive clothes, you need all the makeup, you need to cover up so much of yourself just because you know maybe you aren’t that confident,” McMahon said.

Speaker said students struggling with body image should attend the programs at the Wellness Center this week.

“There’s a ton of comparing going on between women, especially that I see around campus here,” Speaker said. “Just be real with yourself.”