Unless you have been living under a rock or a mountain of books, which I completely understand, it is more than likely that you have heard of the new show “Catfish.” It has made its way into mainstream media with the Manti T’eo incident.

This show brings to light the issues of online dating and relationships; participants try to get down to the bottom of the online dating dilemmas. The common thread in all the story lines is the participants that engage in these online relationships have never met face-to-face.

I personally do not understand the motive of engaging in such a relationship, but I am not one to judge. There are some happy endings, but most of the time it does not end on good terms. Another common factor in most of the storyline of the show is that one or both of the participants suffer from self-esteem and body issues.

This week is body appreciation week here at the Capstone. It is about appreciating your body for being healthy, not “supermodel” appropriate. I saw that this event, like “Catfish,” was a platform for those struggling with inner demons concerning their bodies and how others view them. The fear of rejection kept most of them behind the computer screens.

It would be easy to blame society, but magazines have been around for years and that will never change. There also are countless celebrities that are advocates for being curvaceous and not stick thin, but it eventually falls to us; it has to come to a point where we realize that it is about health not appearance. The only opinion that matters at the end of the day is the one you develop about yourself.

I do not mean to sound insensitive at all; I have my own personal demons with body image like everyone else. I have felt not pretty enough, thin enough, too tall and all things in between. The adolescent years were tumultuous for all of us, but we have come to that point in life that we have a number of other things to worry about than the opinions of others.

Looking at the bigger picture, where is the time to worry about acceptance of peers among deadlines and test dates? It is time to realize that you are who you are and it is not going to change. I am not discouraging progress, but for the right reasons. Exercise to lower cholesterol, not to fit into size 0 jeans.

I, of course, want to be healthy and stay in shape, but I am not going to hide who I am to appeal to others; we as a society need a more “take me as I am or leave me alone” approach. I am a firm believer that there is someone out there for everyone, and everything has a season. Find someone who enjoys you for you and wants you to be healthy because they care about your well-being, not because they want arm candy.

Amber Patterson is a sophomore majoring in public relations. Her column runs weekly on Wednesdays.

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Creative Campus sparks interest at other schools

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